Reviewing Pirated media is like driving in a stolen car…

car-lightWell it seems reviewing a pirated copy of X-Men Origins cost a Fox Columnist his job.  After all reviewing pirated media today is like driving in a a stolen car, even if your not the driver.  Its not like you stole the car, you just needed a lift to work.  After all, you don’t even know the guy who stole the car, he seems like a nice guy, heavy accent and calls you ‘My Friend.’ But you were in the car, got a peek under the seat and maybe drank a little from the whiskey bottle.

At this point we all have come across Pirated material since it is so easy to find, however, no one seems to realize what copyright really means.  Some will see it like driving in a stolen car. You might get out of the car before the police catch the criminal or you might be thrown in jail.  We are on that thin gray line that the law of copyrighted material hangs, like the metal thread holding a painting.

So after you get out of the car, the first thing you do is tell all your friends and write about it in a column for a national media company.  This way your telling the world, how you broke the law and how easy this can be done.  While there currently is a gray line for copyright material, I think that this journalist is currently removing frames from his office that use to hang on a metal thread and placing them in box.  You can bend the law, but maybe you shouldn’t write about it to the world.

ISP Screws up Internet Connection and Arrests Customer

Next time your Internet Service Provider (ISP) stops by to fix your computer connection be very careful what you say to him.  Apparently a new policy from ISP’s is: if we can’t fix the problem we will have you arrested.  A Nova Scotian playwright was arrested for threatening an ISP Technician, telling him that she would keep him hostage until her Internet was up and working.  If the technician felt like a hostage then aren’t we hostages to the Internet Service Provider?  When we are cut off from the Internet that is the equivalent of being placed in a cold white cell and feed bread and water.  Now this story is from our wacky northern friends,  referred by some as Maple Lovers or for the rest of the world just Canadians. But I’m sure the Internet Service Provider’s will love to use this Police State policy to arrest anyone who complains about there Service. Next time your talking to the Customer Care Representative over your Cable, Internet or Phone issues just remember to be nice because if they don’t like your attitude they can send you to Jail!

VIA: CTV.CA

When your missile fails, photoshop it in!!

By now everyone has seen the pictures of the missiles that Iran news media altered. I will be the first to defend them since it seems that most people failed to see that there is a forth missile still on the truck, it just didn’t fire.  Everyone has had some sort of malfunction and that is just plain embarrassing.  The look on the girls governments faces. So here is my take on the situation.  Four missiles were setup on there little missile trucks in the middle of Mars ( did you notice even the fence is red).  Then three of them launched leaving the fourth one on the ground still in the back of the truck.  That doesn’t give a good sense that they mean business.  That is saying 3 out of 4 will kill you. This just won’t do, so someone with a digital brush and one of those funny hats copied the red martian ground, covered the fourth missile truck with the real missile and moved that grounded failed missile to the sky with his friends where he was suppose to be.  Now do you really blame them, I mean that missile was probably missing his friends that he spent the last couple of years in the same warehouse next too. You tell me, how would you feel if you were that lonely missile while your friends were out exploding?  For further information the New York Times explains it in there own words.

Lonely Missile

14 year-old hacks Tranist system?

It seems that a Polish boy hacked a Transit system in Lozd Poland. He used a modified remote control to take over the switch system on the trams. This unfortunately caused a train to derail and some injuries. With the increase of curiosity of technology there will always be these cases, but it is amazing that a 14-year old boy can hack a cities complicated transit system. Accomplishing such a thing with a modified TV remote control is quite a task. People do fear that there is an increase in hacking devices, however, it is in human nature to be curious and try to compete with everything around us. For minds that work with electronics and computer sciences that is what hacking is about, however, in a way without hacking we wouldn’t be making these products safer and better or understanding how they work.

I say bring it on. Let the kids hack, learn how to build remote controls that will control things beyond your wildest dreams. Nicola Tesla created the first remote control over a hundred years ago and everyone thought he was using his mind to control a boat. We need to get out of the dark ages and embrace the curiosity that people have; this is the type of innovation that new forms of technology are created.

Target the Rocky Ipod box!

iRockSo the story of the time is a girl’s 14th birthday present in Texas should of been a shiny new iPod but instead it was a box of rocks.  Well, that sucks.  As described in the orginal story from the Star-Telegram and summed up by the boys where I dug it up at Ars Technica, it seems that Regan Riter’s mother purchased the iPod from Target using an in store Credit Card and finding the best deal around.  Now that is the problem, these warehouse stores are suppose to be the best deals around but are they really?  Do they really help us when thing go to hell?  I’m acutally supprised they belived the Riter’s didn’t stuff the box with Rocks themselves but when they went back and it happened a second time it was very obvious this is a major issue.

Now the real problem isn’t the fact a young girl got a box of Rocks.  That is just a little funny, and ironic and shows you that there is a major lack of security with Targets or its distributer shipping depatrment. But the problem is the policies and the fact that they wouldn’t give the family their money back so they could go else where and let the girl get her iPod for her birthday.  Since policy is policy and Target is Target, I mean they have those red circles everywhere so I’m sure the emploeyes know not to mess with policies. So, the first store was sold out and the mother drove the daughter to another store where they bought with store credit the second iPod where the insisted of opening the iPod in front of the clerk, and the clerk said they needed to buy it first, which they did, and that one was full of rocks too.  So, they were now told since they used a store credit card they could be given anything but store credit and they did this to get that extra 10% discount.  So, since they had the store credit and it was the girls birthday the mother asked the girl to buy something else, even though she really wanted the iPod.

The issue here is why can’t a 14 year old girl who has the money to buy the product that she wants for her birthday can’t get it from one of the largest retails chains.  Target replies with the usual legal jargon but the lacks the respect it should have its customers and the rest of the market.  I enter the stores and as I walk out they treat me the customer like a criminal by checking my receipt, or by inisting in some places that I have to check my bags.  However, they make a mistake in there shipping and they will not honor and give back someone the money for something they have just purchased.  If you want an iPod then goto an apple store or buy from Apple. Atleast they will do the right thing and treat you with respect, and not wait two weeks to get back to you with a form letter.

Unfriendly airwaves? There’s a class for that!

Tesla TowerIt seems that Newscientist.com has discovered that wireless computing isn’t very safe. Wow. I’ve been telling everyone to secure your wireless router for years. Now the time has come that its not enough. This is a great read about what hackers can do even if you have your wireless router secured.

The truth is don’t get all panicky just yet. There is hope for the rest of you and a ton of resources out there. I personal like what cnet.com has setup with the classroom series. Go over to there Wireless Security online class and learn how you can help protect your data. Now I might go on and on and on about how dangerous the wireless world is, however i’m sitting here in bed with a pillow between me and the 1,000 degree laptop I’m blogging with. Keep those wires cut, but protect yourself with some knowledge at these classes: http://wireless-security.classes.cnet.com/