“Lunatic bloggers can have the blog sphere all to themselves as our people are far too busy driving down the cost of air travel”.
A classic quote from ryanair staff (confirmed that blog came from their offices ip address) after someone found a bug on their online booking form.
Read on…
http://www.jason-roe.com/blog/free-ryanair-free-flight-bug/#comment-9479
This almost writes itself!
We all know of the utter stupidity of the TSA’s Terrorist ‘watchlist’ (and I won’t rehash the arguments here). People caught on it include:
… and many more…
Of course in “Stating The Bleedin’ Obvious 101″ any eedgit learns that a name based watchlist is about as useful as a mans tit… and as a real insult to our intellegence they add (in their hilariuosly titled blog page “Myth Buster“):
TSA doesn’t have a watch list
and
TSA is a customer of the Terrorist Screening Center, a component of the FBI (…) responsible for (the) list
But call a spade a spade – if you’re turfing me off a flight on the basis of a list I don’t give a bollix who’s list you’re using.
So what happens if you find out your on a list? Well up to now not very much. Apparently it takes about 1 to 11/2 months and that is only because the ACLU sued for citizens to have the right to do so. But enter The FAST Redress Act of 2009 which obliges the Homeland Security secretary to
Now I wonder who will be charged with maintaining yet another list for the Department of Homeland Security? Let’s hope the responsibility isn’t given to the fuckwits who create the necessity for the Fly List in the first place!
Take note: Eircom are taking it up the ass potentially on your behalf…
(In case you been living in a hole for the past few months, this is the latest in the ongoing case between Eircom and EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner – the four main players in IRMA – the Irish Recorded Music Association – over alleged illegal downloading of copyrighted music.)
On January 28th Eircom agreed a settlement of High Court proceedings with four record companies over music downloads. The record companies have been alleging that Eircom were liable because they were doing nothing to prevent the “abuse” of their networks (including your Internet connection) by people illegally downloading copyrighted material (mostly music MP3′s and movies).
The Internet can be compared (in this case anyway) to the plain old telephone service. Eircom provide you with a telephone line and you use it to talk, fax even check your email. If someone uses the telephone to make death threats or to make libelious statements then is the person who made the statements culpable or the person who provided the telephone line?
Don’t like that analogy? What about the air all around us then? Air allows sound waves to travel between someones mouth and another persons ears. Who should be prosecuted in this case? God? And if you are an atheist copyright holder – where’s your remedy then?
Here’s the beef in the Irish Times article:
…the record companies will supply Eircom with the IP addresses of all persons who they detect illegally uploading or downloading copyright works…
Now I may be no high-flautin’-fancy-pants-lawyer, but aren’t there rules under which “evidence” can be collected? Linking an IP address to an alleged offence is no more an indication of guilt than perhaps being in an area when a bank robbery is committed.
Your IP address is like your telephone number. No more, no less. If you want to send information from one computer to another (for whatever purpose) you need to know it’s IP address. If you want to telephone someone, you need their telephone number.
Linking a conversation to two telephone numbers does not tie it down to two people. In the same way, your IP address belongs to a PC (or a modem), not to an individual. The Gárdaí know all about this. Linking questionable content (like child porn for example) to an IP address is not enough to prove a case. They’ll get a search warrant perhaps but no prosecution – and rightly so. Our constitution has a presumption of innocence, and let’s not forget that copyright infringement is a criminal act.
But, unlike your telephone number, your computers IP address can change quite frequently. Imagine how useful called ID would be if your telephone number changed all the time? Indeed, under the Eircom “agreement” it could be the case that you are approached by Eircom over the “abuse” of their network because the last person to have that IP address happened to download a few MP3 tracks.
(Un)coincidentally enough, in the U.S. similar bullying tactics have been used by the RIAA (the American equivalent of the IMRA) and (shock horror) who holds the main interest in the RIAA? Why non-other than EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner!
Ray Beckerman (a lawyer in the U.S.) has a blog page which deals with the U.S. angle in some detail – it is well worth a read. Is is particularly interesting to look at the different ways in which the RIAA deal with alleged infringement cases: for example in 2007 a single mother from Minnesota was ordered to pay USD 220,000 for sharing 24 songs online while the RIAA were having less success in tackling people their own size, as has been the case with some US Universities.
So if you are approached by Eircom with this kind of “evidence”, remember you have substantial legal rights and don’t need to take their word for it (and certainly not the word of EMI, Sony, Universal or Warner.) Let’s see some hard facts please. And let’s have some proper legal scrutiny of this crap.
So here is what will happen in this joint approach aimed at ending “the abuse of the Internet by P2P (peer to peer) copyright infringers”!
Eircom will:
Eircom (stupid as they are) have recognised a pretty major hole in this agreement. Therefore:
The record compnaies (sic) have also agreed they will take all necessary steps to put similar agreements in place with all other internet service providers in Ireland.
This is a pretty typical tactic for the recording industry and mirrors similar tactics made in the past (see Beckerman’s site). They know that they have major problems with the burden of proof in individual cases, therefore they make loads of threatening noises in the hope that the victim will bend over and settle.
They had wanted Eircom to install software from a US firm that would detect the unique “fingerprint” of copyrighted music files being sent on its network, but Eircom claimed (rightly so) this would not be technically feasible.
In fairness if your internet connection is being filtered in any way, or if you find certain protocols or web sites are “broken” then in my opinion, you do not have a proper Internet connection and have redress under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 under the heading “fit for the purpose”, “merchantable quality” or “misrepresentation”.
Now a question for homework:
Do you think a Eircom will actually boot paying customers off their network or do you think that some poor sap will be held up as an example?
They better start thinking quickly because the Alternative Licensed Telecoms Operators (ALTO) group (whose members include BT Ireland, Magnet Networks, NTL, Chorus, Smart Telecom, Budget Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Colt Telecom, Complete Networks, Digiweb, ESB Telecoms, Verizon and 3 Play Plus) have already released a statement signalling their less-than-enthusiastic response:
“While we obviously do not condone illegal downloading or any illegality on or over the internet, we firmly disapprove of any draconian measures that would compromise the privacy, speed or services offered to broadband users. We do not need measures to further impede the development of next-generation broadband in Ireland”
and
“We’re not party to the agreement with Eircom – we don’t know the details of agreement…”
And as we know only too well, Eircom aren’t the company likely to do anything that might affect their market position…
Funnily enough, Eircom’s News page has no mention of the “agreement” (no link provided because their crap website makes it impossible to link to them) while the IRMA have it screaming from their “Breaking News” page.
For more reaction, off to IrishBlogs.ie with you…
To mark the utter futility of all of this expensive High Court messing, check out the link to TOR - a free and Open Source programme that will guarantee your privacy and make the whole the argument between Eircom and the record companies meaningless.
For fucks sake, haven’t we had enough of pissing money up against the wall by now?
I know this is somewhat old news – but in these days of economic disaster and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the predicament our financial systems have left us in, I just couldn’t help it…
My blog is worth nothing
Tristan Louis did some back of an envelope calculations on a deal between AOL and Weblogs Inc. in 2005 worth some $25 to $40 milliion and came up with the suggestion that a blog is valued at between $560 and $900 per site that links to it.
Of course this is not news to most of us – anyone with a passing recollection of the dotcom era will remember some grossly stupid deals that employed similar methodologies to value deals without any clue as to how these numbers were actually going to be realised. “My blog has 1,000,000 readers” and “I have a mailing list of 1,000,000 people” were used to suggest that you were just around the corner from being the next Richard Branson. One such deal that comes to mind was the reportedly $10,000,000 purchase of the domain ireland.com by the Irish Times about 10 years ago!
(In case you still think that this business model actually works, we are happy to recommend Steve Morsa Realty’s Domain Division. As they point out – “A Memorable DotCom Web Address: The Difference Between Success and Failure on the Internet”. No mention of having to work your tits off when you set up a business of course – it is all in the domain name.)
The reason behind all this is that now you too can value your blog using the same methodology employed by Tristan Louis and hence make thousands (or millions – drool!) selling it on.
Just for comparision we plugged in “GoAskMeBollix.com” and voila – $0.00. Bollix – stuck with the day job for a while longer I suppose!
JCDecaux "Metropanel" at St. Stephens Green
Just in case anyone is letting this one slip, your intrepid correspondent is here to remind you:
It’s been about one year since JCDecaux applied for permission for around 120 advertising structures in return for 450 bikes. About 70 of the applications received planning permission. Similar deals have been done in Paris, Lyon under the JCDecaux brand Cyclocity.
Since the scheme was announced for Dublin, there has been a lot of debate and controversy. It became clear pretty quickly that Dublin is to get a fraction of the bikes that other cities in the scheme had received.
A discreet JCDecaux "Metropole"
Next was the revelation that Dublin City Council were not going to release details of the deal with JCDeceaux citing issues of “commercial sensitivity”. At the same time it was revealed that the deal is tied in to an agreement to remove 48 poster signs, of which an unspecified number are illegally erected – without planning permission. (Just to be clear – the Dublin City Council Development Plan states that “as a general principle, outdoor advertising will only be permitted in commercial zones. It will not be permitted within residential zones, historic or conservation areas, or amenity areas”.) There have also been serious questions raised about the value for money of the deal and about the way in which Dublin City Counsel dealt with their obvious conflict of interest in adjudicating on planning applications in which they had a vested interest.
JCDecaux supplied bikes in Lyon not in Dublin!
Since then the advertising signs have been erected (under the brand “Metropoles” and “Metropanels”) and JCDecaux has been selling space on them. For anyone who has an interest – here is the “Metropole/Metropanel rate card.
Notwithstanding the above criticism, the signs have since been critised for dangerously impeding the visibility of motorists and pedestrians and by the National Council for the Blind in Ireland for not taking the needs of blind pedestrians into account.
I can’t help thinking however that perhaps JCDeveaux and Dublin City Council might have averted some of this criticism by erecting the bicycle stands and bicycles before or at the same time as their advertising boards. After all how difficult can it be:
Just buy us our bleedin’ bikes!
I finally decided to hookup my Mac Mini to the TV for use as a media centre. The tv, a Samsung has plenty of HDMI ports, so my thoughts were – grand, get a cable and the two will talk. Off to the local Powercity to grab one from the bargain bin. Usual cheap suited salesman soon as I arrived at the TV section.
“Can I help you sir”
“Yes please, I’m looking for a HDMI cable.”
“We have a full selection of Monster HDMI cables”
“Fair enough, what’s the cheapest one”
“€100 euro but we recommend this one” (pointing at €165 cable).
….. cue gasp of disbelief.
“don’t you have anything cheaper? I mean you ARE selling DVD players that have HDMI ports that cost less then €100″
“Ah yes, we only sell Monster cables for quality. It’s not like Scart where there was not much of a difference in quality between grades. You have to get a high end HDMI to get a good image, we would be ”
So there you go. A 1 metre length of copper cable is being sold for €100…. worse still some guy is trying to convince me digital signal is more susceptible to quality degradation then analogue signal. Cue me telling him to goaskmebollix. In fairness he did not protest too much – it seems obvious that the retailers put 1000% markup on copper cables so they can look competitive on the TV knowing full well they can make it up in overpriced (required) accessories. These are such patent lies I cannot believe they can get away it. Then again if people buy premium phone leads (for faster downloads) and premium power cables for better treble from their amps…
BTW the cheapest cable for €9.99 I could find after a short search is here: http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/HDMI_cable_2m.html
It’s even (unneccesarily) gold plated!
On a lighter note Denon have significantly reduced the price (by $200!!) of their Denon link cable, a one metre CAT6 cable to a mere $305…. Â http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/dp/B000I1X6PM/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
Read the customer reviews for best effect. FAO Denon, after seeing this I will be buying an Onkyo.
… as long as you’re not black, yellow, from Bradford or anything remotely non-white…
TOURISM OFFICIALS expressed concern to the Department of Arts and Tourism earlier this year about the behaviour of immigration officers at ports of entry after an Indian man who won a trip to Ireland in a State-sponsored competition reported suffering harassment and racial discrimination at Dublin airport.
He won the trip at an event organised by Tourism Ireland in Mumbai to promote Ireland as an attractive holiday destination.
Newly released documents show the prizewinner wrote to Tourism Ireland on March 2nd to complain of his treatment at Dublin airport. He outlined how, despite his having the required tourist visa and carrying a letter from Tourism Ireland, immigration officers insisted they did not believe the letter was authentic.
“[An officer] then asked us who had booked our hotel. We told him it was done by Thomas Cook in Bombay. He said that can’t be possible as why would Ireland Tourism [sic] book through Thomas Cook as they were a British company. We didn’t know what to say.”
He alleged many other Indian passengers were treated unfairly. “It was only the Indians who were being photographed at the immigration counter. It was clear-cut racial discrimination. Whole thing was very embarrassing.”
According to correspondence released to The Irish Times under Freedom of Information rules, Tourism Ireland responded to convey its “deep regret” to the prizewinner over his experience. “We are all very upset and embarrassed about the incident and will be taking it up at the highest levels with the Government department concerned . . .” the agency said.
The following day, an official from Tourism Ireland sent an e-mail to a counterpart in the Department of Arts and Tourism. “Another shock story about immigration,” he wrote. “We really need to do something about it. The friendliest destination in the world???”
This was followed by a letter from Tourism Ireland chief executive Paul O’Toole to secretary general of the department Con Haugh. He pointed out that, in line with Government policy, the organisation was seeking to develop new markets in the Asia-Pacific region and warned of the need to be competitive.
“A number of our partners and contacts have reported unfortunate instances when they or their clients have sought entry to Ireland, notwithstanding their belief that they had secured the necessary documentation,” he wrote.
Tourism Ireland regards India as one of the most promising developing markets and opened an office in Mumbai three years ago.
Two months after the incident, in response to a parliamentary question by Fine Gael’s Olivia Mitchell, then newly appointed Minister for Arts and Tourism Martin Cullen said he was “not aware of immigration policy being a significant concern to the tourism industry”.
Immigrant groups and representatives of the English-language education sector have regularly complained of the harsh treatment experienced by lawful foreign visitors at ports of entry.
Earlier this month, a Nigerian Catholic priest who travelled to Ireland on a tourist visa was arrested at Dublin airport before being strip-searched and placed in a prison cell on suspicion of trying to enter the country illegally.
© 2008 The Irish Times
From TIME magazine (September 8th, 2008 issue):
Washington Objecting To Abortion
The Bush Administration announced a new regulation that would allow doctors to deny medical services on the basis of their religious or moral beliefs, overriding current state laws that require health-care workers to aid patients or refer them elsewhere. Opponents say the rule, which applies to 584,000 hospitals and clinics, could block patient access to everything from birth control to abortions to end-of-life care. The rule could go into effect after a 30-day comment period.
It gets better though… the Washington Post adds:
The rule empowers federal health officials to pull funding from more than 584,000 hospitals, clinics, health plans, doctors’ offices and other entities if they do not accommodate employees who refuse to participate in care they find objectionable…
While I am somewhat disappointed at myself for marvelling at the sheer redneckedness of Gee Whiz Bush, I can’t help wondering if this fucking loon has ever heard of the Hippocratic Oath? Pretty imaginative policy making though… next step Eugenics?
I hope Mary Harney gets to read this… might be just the ticket for Ireland’s cash strapped Health Department. Here’s a few practical steps that medical professionals could adopt under the guise of religious or moral beliefs:
My thinking: If we have a health system that uniformly treats everyone like shite, then why not allow medical professionals to refuse to treat as they see fit? Of course to avoid any accusations of discrimination we would have to make sure that there are legitimate moral or religious reasons for doing so, but as experience in Ireland teaches us, we can just make that up as we go along.
At least then half of the population might get some decent treatment rather than the whole population getting half-treated.
Dickhead
Pronunciation: \ˈdik-ˌhed\
Function: noun
Etymology: dick (penis) + head
Date: 1964
usually vulgar: a stupid or contemptible person
