Best Of StumbleUpon

[via]

“That disruption isn’t good or bad, Gaiman said, “it just is. It’s a fact of life now.” And while legislators will no doubt continue to push forward with laws like SOPA and PIPA, he said, they won’t be able to turn back the clock to a time before the Internet was invented. In a video interview he recorded last year for the Open Rights Group, which is embedded below, Gaiman talked about how he was initially incensed about people pirating his work, but eventually came to the realization that they were actually promoting his work, and he was selling more in countries where his books were pirated.”

“I think people in Hollywood are convinced that people would suddenly start buying DVDs again if only they could stop all this peer-to-peer file sharing and so on. They just are fundamentally missing the point… genies don’t go back in bottles once they’re out.”
Gaiman: SOPA and PIPA are on the Wrong Side of History

In the spirit of promoting Neil Gaiman (who I absolutely adore and idolize), did you know he has a tumblr blog? Yup, neil-gaiman.tumblr.com. One truly fantastic thing about Gaiman’s tumblr blog is that he uses it to respond to fan questions, OFTEN. His tumblr blog is perhaps one of the most direct ways a fan can reach him. I enjoy reading his responses tremendously and highly recommend you follow him.

You may have never heard of ACTA before, I know I haven’t. ACTA stands for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and due to the recent events and publicity of SOPA and PIPA, attention has been drawn to ACTA, which after reading about it appears to be just as bad if not worse than SOPA.

ACTA is an International agreement among volunteering nations to put new controls into place for copyright infringement on the Internet; however it’s being veiled as a way to stop counterfeit goods and generic medicines. Additionally, it’s how these new controls are imposed which creates problems including how the agreement has been negotiated which has raised a lot of concerns.

I think everyone in the world agrees that counterfeit goods, counterfeit medicines and copyright infringement is a problem, but as we just learned with SOPA and PIPA, going about fixing the problems the wrong way will get you nowhere and only creates more issues, including nationwide protests and ‘blackouts’.

Here are some of the concerns with ACTA that you should be aware of:

• Drafting and talks of ACTA has been shrouded in secrecy. Talks began back 2006 with official negotiations starting in 2008 and no public drafts have been made available until April 2011; those that were able to see copies prior to 2011 were bound by non-disclosure agreements.
• Once made public, the agreement says that it will remove legal safeguards that protect Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from liability for the actions of their users, in effect giving ISPs no option but to comply with privacy invasions and collection of data in order to police their users and conduct filtering of content.
• Also just like with SOPA, sites that host or link to infringing content would be held liable. ACTA would also facilitate privacy violations by trademark and copyright holders (MPAA, RIAA) against private citizens suspected of infringement activities without any sort of legal due process which will result in blocking of access to the Internet, fines and jail time.
• ACTA would require that existing ISPs no longer host free software that can access copyrighted media, and DRM protected media would not be legally playable with free or open source software, which would stop the ability to distribute free software via peer-to-peer networks.
• ACTA has been lobbied heavily by the Entertainment industry (MPAA, RIAA) which through experience we know that they have their own interests in mind, and not the peoples.

For an even better explanation, in video form, watch below and see just how evil ACTA really is. [via]

Nobody likes it, it’s always broken, users are leaving in unprecedented droves and the community of SU is so used to being screwed over that, at this point, they don’t even kick up a fuss about it, they just leave.

The new interface is impossible to use, even for users with IT backgrounds, no I am not exaggerating. It is also super frustrating because it’s anti-social and most of the provided functionality doesn’t actually function.

The once thriving community of StumbleUpon has clung to each other as they spread across the web and can be found, still playing in the pool together, in several fun places. The best two options are:

• Categorian (best option for people who liked the way of blogging SU once provided)
• Tumblr (best option for people who like instant gratification on their shared posts)

You can find everyone else and all their other blogs at the new forum SUCats, where everyone is hanging out these days.

”

Two days ago, you guys stepped up once again to show the world just how much we care about protecting the Internet. Together, we generated more than 140,000 calls to Senators, spent more than 4,200 hours on the phone with their staffers, and blacked out 650,000 of our blogs to make our point and inspire others to get involved. And what’s more, this was on top of the 90,000 calls we sent to members of the House of Representatives a month ago. Incredible.

It’s now becoming clear just how much impact our action is having. On January 18th, only 31 members of Congress opposed these bills. Just one day later, 101 members of Congress publicly stood with us in opposition. We are being heard.

And as of today, it looks like both the Senate PIPA and House SOPA bills have been shelved, for the moment. It seems pretty likely that the bills won’t pass as written—a big first win. We now hope that Internet companies, the creative community and the content industry join together to innovate and devise new partnerships to combat online piracy. We’re confident there are effective ways to do this without damaging the Internet or diminishing our freedoms.

You’ve made a big difference in keeping the Internet a safe and open place for creators. Thank you again.”

[via tumblr staff blog]

Like Alcohol, Cocaine, Heroine, Methamphetamine and Ketamine the Internet changes your brain chemistry once you become addicted.

Researchers in China recently conducted brain scans of 17 men and women diagnosed with Internet addiction disorder. The study revealed patterns of “abnormal white matter” in the brains of those with IAD, in comparison to the control group of 16 non-addicts. White matter areas are full of nerve fibers that help transmit signals around the brain, including information involving emotions, decision-making and self-control. Those particular parts of the brain were the ones found affected by abnormal white matter.

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to state that “addiction changes the chemistry of your brain”.  People are always so quick to blame the substance or the behavior, our brains are complex, lets not get carried away here.

The “Hacktivists” known as Anonymous have waged an all out attack on several key govenerment websites including Whitehouse.gov, the Department of Justice site and other “key players”  such as Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.

Today, they’re giving every deviantART member an all-access Premium Membership pass!

Also, check out Deviantart on tumblr, which I only just discovered.

“The poisoned candy scare was a moral panic in the United States (and Canada) during the 1970s and 1980s regarding the threat that children could be in danger of ingesting razor blades, needles, or poison introduced to candy by tampering, especially during traditional Halloween trick-or-treating. Apart from one incident—actually an act of premeditated murder by a trick-or-treater’s father—there have been no recorded incidents of deliberately poisoned candy during Halloween or any similar occasion. ” wikipedia.org

Every year around this time, this topic comes up and every year I have to explain to at least a few people that what they are talking about is an urban legend. Halloween candy is your friend, don’t fear it. Sadly it is because of the panic this rumor ensued that it is illegal in several states to hand out homemade treats which is a real shame, imagine the days when there was a change the door you knocked on had a freshly made candy apple for your treat.

A few simple rules should always be exercised, I like to refer to them as common sense:

1. Take a few moments to check over your kids candy before they are allowed to start gobbling it down like true little goblins.
2 Take out any damaged or open pieces, set aside or eat them yourself.
3. Use your best judgment, based on your child’s age some hard candy or gum could be a choking hazard, so you can scarf that stuff as well.