Submission + - Slashdot being censored in the UK? (futureoftheinternet.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: Creative advertising campaign from the UK's Pirate Party, to raise awareness of web censorship and the digital economy act.
Submission + - Feds Question Big Media's Piracy Claims (cnet.com)
WrongSizeGlass writes: CNET is reporting that the GAO's study (summary; highlights [PDF]; full report [PDF]) of big media's piracy claims raised some questions. "After spending a year studying how piracy and illegal counterfeiting affects the United States, the Government Accountability Office says it still doesn't know for sure." "The GAO said that most of the published information, anecdotal evidence and records show that piracy is a drag on the U.S. economy, tax revenue and in some cases potentially threatens national security and public health. But the problem is, according to the GAO, the data used to quantify piracy isn't reliable."
Comment Re:It was a farce... (Score 4, Informative) 384
Link moved, here is where you can find the MP votes: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100407/debtext/100407-0032.htm#1004088001556
Comment It was a farce... (Score 5, Interesting) 384
Everyone that watched the debate last night was pretty horrified at how broken the "wash up" process was, and how obviously this bill was pushed through by the front benches without the support of the backbench MPs present. Labour were responsible for 97% of the MPs that gave a yes vote, because those Labour MPs that didn't would have faced severe consequences, perhaps even eviction from the party. Some rebel Labour MPs did vote against, Tom Watson leading them, this guy deserves serious respect for standing up for what he believes despite the pressure.
The election is coming and we need to take away power from these corrupt parties (the other two major parties are hardly blameless, although the Liberal Democrats did at least vote against). Support the Open Rights Group and also support the Pirate Party UK who are currently raising money to field candidates. You can donate to the Pirate Party here if you are so inclined: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/party/donate/
My MP voted for the bill, so I'm going to vote against in the next election, I'd urge people to do the same, find out if your MP voted and which way by going here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/32.htm#hddr_2
Comment Support the Pirate Party UK (Score 1) 1
Everyone that watched the debate last night was pretty horrified at how broken the "wash up" process was, and how obviously this bill was pushed through by the front benches without the support of the backbench MPs present. Labour were responsible for 97% of the MPs that gave a yes vote, because those Labour MPs that didn't would have faced severe consequences, perhaps even eviction from the party. Some rebel Labour MPs did vote against, Tom Watson leading them, this guy deserves serious respect for standing up for what he believes despite the pressure.
The election is coming and we need to take away power from these corrupt parties (the other two major parties are hardly blameless, although the Liberal Democrats did at least vote against). Support the Open Rights Group and also support the Pirate Party UK who are currently raising money to field candidates. You can donate to the Pirate Party here if you are so inclined: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/party/donate/
My MP voted for the bill, so I'm going to vote against in the next election, I'd urge people to do the same, find out if your MP voted and which way by going here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/32.htm#hddr_2
Submission + - Anger mounts over UK copyright bill 'stitch up' (computerworlduk.com) 1
superapecommando writes: The Digital Economy Bill will be debated today by the Lords, who will decide if it becomes law, after being controversially rushed through in a vote in the House of Commons.
The bill passed through the Commons yesterday with a majority of 142 votes. The vote followed condemnation a day earlier, when it made a major advance in a debate attended by under 40 MPs. Campaigners for and against the bill had spent thousands of pounds attempting to catch the attention of politicians.
Under the bill, users could be cut off if they access pirated content, and websites hosting that content could also be blocked. Proponents say these steps would protect content creators — but opponents, who presented a petition to parliament with thousands of signatures, see the bill as threatening civil liberties.
The bill passed through the Commons yesterday with a majority of 142 votes. The vote followed condemnation a day earlier, when it made a major advance in a debate attended by under 40 MPs. Campaigners for and against the bill had spent thousands of pounds attempting to catch the attention of politicians.
Under the bill, users could be cut off if they access pirated content, and websites hosting that content could also be blocked. Proponents say these steps would protect content creators — but opponents, who presented a petition to parliament with thousands of signatures, see the bill as threatening civil liberties.
Comment Re:My grudge against NeHe (Score 1) 117
I'm the author of that book.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the book. The book's structure and format followed that of its predecessor (the first edition) which was written by different authors. It was not possible to put entire code listings into the text of the book due to space limitations, which is why the book came with the full source on the CD.
That said, the initial print run of the book had a fault with the project files on the CD, they did indeed have absolute paths. I posted updated versions on the book's official website at courseptr.com[1] and posted updates on NeHe explaining the problem. Later, when ATI updated their drivers and became more strict about an ambiguous part of the GL specification, I updated the project files again[2].
There are Linux versions of all the programs on the CD with project files for Code::Blocks, and the code compiles on both GCC and Visual C++ so I think it's a little unfair to say it was only for Visual Studio. Try out the updated project files, hopefully you'll have more success with them.
Regards,
Luke Benstead.
[1] http://www.delmarlearning.com/companions/content/159863528X/links/index.asp?isbn=159863528X
[2] http://www.kazade.co.uk/downloads/boglgp/bug-fixes-2009-08-29.zip
Comment Re:"downloading coyprighted material" (Score 1) 194
Even that's not right, it's not illegal - it's unlawful (in the UK at least).
Comment Re:Stupidity of leadership..or quite the contrary? (Score 1) 327
Heh, I kinda hope ACTA triggers a cyberwar, against all the governments that backed it.
Comment Advertising Linux is the dumbest thing ever... (Score 1) 460
I mean, seriously? That's like advertising the keys on a keyboard, or the wheels on a car. Linux always forms part of a product, like a distribution, or a PVR or something, what's the point in it having it's own advert? Now, if they were making Ubuntu, Fedora etc. adverts then yeah that would make sense.
That said, I quite liked the winning ad, if they replaced "Linux" with "Ubuntu" or some other distribution name it would make more sense though.
P.S. Why for the love of code do I have to wait 30 seconds for my preview to come up before I submit? And now I have to wait again coz I edited.. grr..
Submission + - OiNK admin acquitted on fraud charge (theregister.co.uk)
polymorp writes: OiNK admin was today cleared of fraud charges by a jury.
He had been arrested in a dawn raid by Cleveland police in October 2007, acting on intelligence from the BPI. Police invited TV cameras to film the swoop, dubbed "Operation Ark Royal".
He had been arrested in a dawn raid by Cleveland police in October 2007, acting on intelligence from the BPI. Police invited TV cameras to film the swoop, dubbed "Operation Ark Royal".
Submission + - Music file sharer cleared of fraud (bbc.co.uk)
krou writes: The BBC is reporting that Alan Ellis, who ran music file sharing site Oink from his flat in the UK, has been found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Between 2004 and 2007, the site 'facilitated the download of 21 million music files' by allowing its some 200,000 'members to find other people on the web who were prepared to share files'. Ellis was making £18,000 a month from donations from users, and claimed that he had no intention of defrauding copyright holders, and said 'All I do is really like Google, to really provide a connection between people. None of the music is on my website.'
Comment Re:Effected? (Score 1) 233
Wait. Slashdot has editors now?
Submission + - ReactOS released version 0.3.11 "For Workgroups" (reactos.org)
kazade84 writes: This morning the ReactOS team finally pushed a new release; version 0.3.11. This release contains an entirely rewritten memory manager and some real progress with sound support. Still a very early alpha but each release makes huge progress. Making fun of the current version number the splash screen is very familiar. Preinstalled Virtualbox and VMware VMs are available from the project page on Sourceforge.
Submission + - FTC Sues Intel for Anticompetitve Practices (pcmag.com)
adeelarshad82 writes: The Federal Trade Commisssion sued Intel, alleging that the microprocessor maker has systematically attempted to block rivals from bringing their chips to market. The FTC has scheduled its case to be heard on Sept. 8, 2010. In the past, Intel has paid $1.6 billion and $1.25 billion in fines to EU and AMD respectively for similar charges. The FTC's suit mimics other actions in that it alleges Intel stifled competition by allegedly threatening and rewarding OEMs like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM. But the suit also takes a step further with a new charge, alleging that Intel "secretly redesigned key software, known as a compiler, in a way that deliberately stunted the performance of competitors' CPU chips," the FTC alleged.
