NinjaRadio

• 135hotfrmevolutionrevolution · 23.05 MB

Traffic shaping? What? I guess that’s what’s been happening to my P2P activity in recent weeks.

Network Throttling

Bell Canada holds back bandwidth

Oh No They Couldn’t Have

Here’s someone who says, “What the hell are doing anyway with P2P? It’s bad netiquette. Don’t you know that?”

I am a strong believer in net neutrality. Google explains it like this: “Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days. Indeed, it is this neutrality that has allowed many companies, including Google, to launch, grow, and innovate. Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In our view, the broadband carriers should not be permitted to use their market power to discriminate against competing applications or content. Just as telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity online. Today, the neutrality of the Internet is at stake as the broadband carriers want Congress’s permission to determine what content gets to you first and fastest. Put simply, this would fundamentally alter the openness of the Internet.”

If you really want your eyes to glaze over look at the Wikipedia entry on it. But as a netizen, you must educate yourself.

Read it and weep podcasters! We have 3% of the total number of people listening to audio. The Globe and Mail asks: What type of radio do you listen to? and here were the results out of some 10,000 votes:

Traditional 74% 8185 votes

Satellite 7% 722 votes

Internet streaming 9% 1015 votes

Podcasts 3% 328 votes

None of the above 7% 782 votes

A herd of cows (well actually only four) are freed on a busy highway during the Toronto morning rush hour. Witnesses saw them in their backyards, munching on what little exposed vegetation could be found. Three were rounded up, but a forth was unfortunately shot when it displayed aggressive behaviour. Special K wonders why it couldn’t just be tranqualized instead. Special K and Ninja wonder whether it would do any good to boycott the 2008 Olympic games. The human rights issues associated with Chinese internal politics haven’t changed merely because Bejing is hosting the games. They feel that a boycott may only punish the athletes and serve no other purpose. Last year 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour in Australia. If they had sustained that level of energy savings for a year it would be equivalent to taking thousands of cars of the roads for that year.

Official Olympics Site: http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp
Bejing Olympics 2008 site: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/beijing/index_uk.asp
Ninja’s Earth Hour page: http://www.earthhour.org/user/rS1j
Earth Hour Main page: http://www.earthhour.org/

• 134hotfrmtillthecowscomehome · 22.48 MB

Zeitgeist is a German word that means the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era according to the Merriam-Webster. It’s the title of a documentary that you can find at http://zeitgeistmovie.com/. It was produced by Peter Joseph and won an Activist Film award. Its premise could be controversial: That our lives our nothing more than fuel cells for a few lucky powerful people. Somewhat like the matrix except there is no need for a red pill or a blue pill. The produce of our toil feeds the few wealthy and powerful while we ask for nothing more than beer, medications, mindless televison and films, Second Life and other web 2.0 false realities.

He builds his case by showing us first that Jesus never existed. Religion is a tool, he suggests, to keep us under control. God is a myth that is so convincing that we are unable to question it. Next, he shows how 9/11 must have been an inside job. Furthermore, he asserts, no buildings can fall in such a controlled fashion unless they have been preloaded with explosives that result in such a perfect demolition. Finally and this is where for me the arguments become the most obscure: our money has no meaning and no value except what the one central bank declares it has. The rise and fall of the markets and my spending power is little more than at the whim of the controllers of the bank whose own money is always protected. They will get into the market and out of it before I feel its effect.

One nice touch in this movie are some still brilliant scenes from Network (1976) where Peter Finch admonishes our attachment to mindless entertainment in the form of television. The scenes from Network were actually the more powerful message for me. What the newscaster says is still relevant today. But did Zeitgeist itself shock me? No. Did it disturb me? Absolutely. Because at the core of its message I think is an invitation to question basic assumptions of what my life in society really means and to whom it benefits and in what ways. From that point of view I loved the movie. As long as you keep an open mind and do not merely open your mouth like a bird to receive it as some kind of false nourishment, it can be thought provoking and serve to spur on any personal inquiry into these matters that you may have been reluctant to explore.

I parked my car somewhere tonight and well I didn’t think about it. I just went about my errands and met up with Special K. We went out for a nice dinner and then walked back to the vicinity of my car. “Where’s the car?” she asks. “Er…near Dearbourne.” (Maybe on Dearbourne…no no on the street north/south to Dearbourne…yeah that’s it). So we get to that street, the name escapes me, and I’m trying to reconstruct where I may have left the car. “Ninja. This is much worse than not remembering in a carpark. Much worse.” (I think it’s further down…) “It’s further down. Keep walking.” But somehow I know it’s not further down. Oh. Now. Where did I park that car? Oh yeah yeah, it’s on Fairview. Maybe. “Ninja - do you know where the car is?” “Go over to Fairview.” I remember now. “I’m nervous Ninja. Do you know where you parked the car?” “Of course. Of course.”

Yeah right, Special K thinks.

Ninja recounts her experience with an ear, nose and throat specialist who insists she does not need devices to enhance her hearing. Strange sucking noises and what else sucks according to WIRED Magazine.

• 133hotfrmcanyourepeatthatplease · 23.17 MB

Whoa. As a teenager, I worked with autistic children as a day camp counselor. Nothing was harder. I was given instructions on what to do and how to behave with them and how they would behave with me. Not being able to connect with these kids was complete torture for me. Especially when I could, in comparision, fully express myself in relation to the other so called, normal children. I remember with joy and affection how I was able to be a friend and playmate, (I was little more than a child myself at sixteen), to the other children. But the autistic children were seemingly unreachable. Odd motor behaviours, strange repetitive movements and sounds - I had no idea how I was supposed to react. There was no yardstick for knowing whether I was doing the right thing or not.

So it comes as a great surprise and revelation to me that though the autistic interact with their world differently than I do, they have no less awareness about that experience than I have about mine.

If you have not seen it - you must watch this video. You can also supplement that experience with this article from the March issue of Wired.

Photo credit: Jessica Dimmock.

The rest of the world is. This last weekend I interviewed my neighbour, whose political views are informed and well thought out. My neighbour is a Canadian Vietnam veteran. He served as a volunteer for the Americans some 40 years ago. For most of his life he has leaned to the right but recently and because of what he sees as the Republican party character and mistakes of the current and past administrations, leans more and more left of centre in recent years. In my interview, he looks critically at the Democratic presidential nomination race and what it would mean for America and the world if the Democrats win the presidential race in November. If you’re an American and haven’t made up your mind, then Mike’s thoughts will hopefully help you make that decision. It might motivate you to respond or do your own further research on the matter to make the best informed decision you can. Enjoy the interview and find out who Mike would be voting for in November if he were an American and why.

Some of the ambient hiss you’ll hear is his refrigerator and furnace and oh, yes: In the background you will hear enthusiastic shouts and laughter of his family and Special K playing with the WII.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 132

Tomorrow my neighbour has offered to do an interview with me about his feelings regarding the American Democratic nomination race. He’s turning into a democrat and we’re all surprised. I’d like to hear what he has to say. But the weekend is another tight one. I’m hoping to schedule him in between snow shovelling and cleaning up inside.

So, I think that love is the most important thing in the world and then humour is a close second. But Special K thinks that humour is the the most important thing in the world then love comes second. Furthermore, she thinks you can’t have love without humour as a foundation. Am I that funny?

In response to nameless faceless agents of Facebook removing some of Imogen’s photos, Imogen wrote that:

I have recieved two warnings in my email about removed pictures. I was sure I had checked and removed any pictures that were offensive, but ok, I accept there may have been more pictures that I did not find offensive, that maybe your moderators did.

I have logged in, clicked the box to accept that I have recieved the initial warning, only to find this message revealed afterwards…

“Your behavior indicates that you may be in violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. Continued misuse of Facebook’s features could result in your account being disabled. If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page here “

But there is no mention of what behaviour this was ? and no way of finding out ? Without this information, how can I (or indeed anyone) be expected to moderath thier behaviour ?

Can you tell me what, apart from posting the removed pictures, I have done wrong ?

I enjoy using facebook, and wish to continue as a member… But this kind of ambiguity makes it rather tough sometimes.

Thanks in advance.

Imogen Jyame Mann.

Imogen has a point. If we are supposed to operate within a certain range of behaviour on facebook, perhaps it might be a good idea to qualify and quantify what that behaviour is. If there are photos, language, images and other content that is unacceptable - how is that defined? What is the acceptable range? Imogen has no way of knowing what, if anything, she has done wrong.

Er…could it be because she is transgendered, hmmm? Let’s just say they are hardly being straight with her to put it wryly.

I am so out of it. First I didn’t know that the spec was that Ellen Page might be the next Jodie. I had no idea. And I just found the Big Gay Sketch Show. Check these out.