Well - i'm back from break for a little - just to kind of update ya guys on what's happening in my life right now :) One entry that would normally go to the personal blog - but, one that i think ya guys should know about.
During my time off, there has been a little bit going on in this house. Actually, a lot. First, we're in the process of losing the house. Parents went and got a second mortgage a few years ago, screwed up - dad lost his job. But, the real estate guy came 2 weeks ago, and appraised the house. A little bit below what was originally given....but, gave us basically a 2 month time frame. Wants us out by mid-May, which means i have to find a place to stay.
I've been running around a little bit, trying to find a place - and, i think i may have found a place. With one of the people i met during the 2nd stay at the hospital. Problem is, i can't take my cats - therefore, i have to leave them with Dad and Kelly - which isn't really an issue, cause the cats know i'm not abandoning them. They're well taken care of with them, and i don't have to worry about them as a whole.
Yea, as you can plainly see, i'm an animal person. And, the things that half these people who own pets don't do, i hate with a passion. When ya have a bloody animal, you're supposed to treat it how you would like to be treated. Food, shelter - LOVE.
....But, that's off topic :)
So, now that's taken care of. It sucks when you're on social assistance though, and they'll only give ya $323 a month for rent. lol. Ya barely make enough to survive. Stupid Canadian politics. If it wasn't for the deal i hammed out, i don't have to really give up anything. I only pay for BellTV and Telus internet and phone. She's got a dish - so, 1 terminal can go back. That'll lower my bill a little bit. Plus, she wants away from Shaw - so, me brining up the Internet and a phone...yep yep.
I'm hoping to get back to school soon too. I can't do it from a school based setting - last time i was assessed. So...i can do it from home. This house is just not doing it for me anymore. I need to be on my own. Lotta bad shit that i just wanna....be done with. Stupid demons lol. (No, not in the paranormal sense.)
Oh - and, then now...my computer crashed LMAO. Perfect fucking timing if i do say so myself. And, the guy has had it since...Saturday. Maybe Tech2Go in Medicine Hat wasn't my smartest move. Yea, ok - it all crashed. Hard drive failed - and, burnt out. Dust and Fur (That should've actually been cleaned by the last guy - no name's.) But, everything that failed burned out. And, everything was running on low power. So, MDG kinda sucks in my book's.
So, now i lost everything. Labels and Bands: This is why i ask for HARD COPIES! lol. Cause, now - i gotta put all my crap back in there - and, download what i can get back. Lost everything on that drive i had over 3 years. Now, let's just hope that Telus likes me....cause, they're gonna see bandwidth increase lol.
That's why i'm still gone. Plus, i've been sick these last 5 days, and am just getting over it. I'm using a bloody netbook that's hooked up to the monitor and keyboard....and, using wireless right now. Kinda sucks lol. So, i haven't really been around as much as i used to. I don't think i ever will be on like that for awhile. I'll be here when i can, but other than that.... lol.
Please understand that if i'm not here, and not doing the show right now....it's not cause i don't want to. I have to, because there's a lot of crap right now that's happening that i need to take a break from. To get my life on the track i want and need it to go....and, do it without getting overwhelmed.
And, i'm still trying to figure out who my friends are. That takes some time. Not only offline, but online as well. I've had some fake ass people just drain it out of me. First, there was "Nat". And, i really don't know shit cause she's blocked me. I didn't start to really judge....But, Chad had me too, and i stopped following him and talking to him. He's come off fake. He talks all this shit, and then does something to contradict himself, and be proved wrong...and, makes up shit. PLAYA! lol.
Fuck - half the friends i used to consider friends have seem to come up as well. Yea, there's some i hold true - but, some that i consider....Associates lol. But, some of them are just...don't want anything to seem to wanna do with me. Is it cause i'm broken? Maybe i'm just a wallflower - well, i know i am, but to a point. I dunno. Maybe it's just cause i have the depression and bi-polar shit. Maybe it's cause people can't seem to drop shit in their heads that i have taken the blame for, but are just made up....cause, i don't "Cougar it up" lol. Not to someone i've known for 20 some years.
Anyways, i'm rambling on and on. All this shit that's been following me a month and some have now come out. Take it as ya will. :)
If this doesn't top how stupid some of the people in the government are - here's further proof! There's a serious issue here - especially if you're spending $25 million to "Rebrand" Alberta as one of the better provinces. Honestly, i'd really love it if Steven Harper came up with this idea, or approved it in some way.
Alberta is trying to rebrand itself these days - apparently, as England.
Provincial officials have found themselves defending the use of a scenic beachfront photo in the province's new $25-million public relations campaign, which was launched last month to counter criticism of Alberta's oilsands development.
However, it turns out a photo featured front and centre in the campaign - showing a boy and a girl running along a rugged beachfront - isn't from Alberta.
The picture was shot near the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland, 70 kilometres north of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In England, it's a famous beach, near Bamburgh Castle, known as the legendary home of Sir Lancelot.
"There's no attempt to make people think that this is Alberta," said Tom Olsen, director of media relations for Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach. "There's no attempt to mislead. That picture just fit the mood and tone of what we were trying to do."
Olsen said the picture was chosen because of its foreign location to represent Albertans' interest in global issues. In the province's promotional video, he said, the voice-over that accompanies the picture speaks of Alberta's interest in the future, not just of the province, but of the world.
Sheelagh Caygill, the public relations and marketing executive at Northumberland Tourism, was tickled to hear that the Alberta government is spending millions to showcase her region's famous beach.
Edmonton Journal
Peter Sunde said on twitter - "Relax, nothing will happen with the TPB, us personaly or file-sharing at all. This is just a theater for the media."
While only a few weeks ago, it seems like an eternity since the trial of The Pirate Bay Four ended and the court retired to consider its verdict. The prosecution claimed that the four defendants were ‘assisting in making copyright content available’ and demanded millions of dollars in damages. The defense did not agree, and all pleaded not guilty - backed up by the inimitable King Kong defense.
Today, Friday April 17, the court issued its decision: article continuously updated
“The court has found that by using Pirate Bay’s services there has been file-sharing of music, films and computer games to the extent the prosecutor has stated in his case,” said the district court. “This file-sharing constitutes an unlawful transfer to the public of copyrighted performances.”
Peter Sunde (born September 13, 1978) alias ‘brokep’:
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
Peter Althin, brokep’s lawyer said, “I spoke to Peter and he wasn’t very surprised. A journalist he’d spoken to knew an hour before it was public that all four would be convicted. The verdict was leaked from the court. I have to think about what effects that can have on the sentence. It is unacceptable that the court is leaking.”
Fredrik Neij (born April 27, 1978) alias ‘TiAMO’:
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
Gottfrid Svartholm (October 17, 1984) alias ‘Anakata’:
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
Anakata’s lawyer Ola Salomonsson said, “We’re appealing. It’s very surprising that the court has chosen to treat the accused as a team.”
Carl Lundström (born April 13, 1960)
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
The court said that the four defendants worked as a team, were aware that copyrighted material was being shared using The Pirate Bay and that they made it easy and assisted the infringements. It categorized the infringements as ’severe’. The judge said that the users of The Pirate Bay committed the first offense by sharing files and the four assisted this.
While the court did not agree with the plaintiff’s exaggerated estimates of losses, it still set the damages at 30 million SEK ($3,620,000). This a hugely significant amount and the court has ordered that the four should pay this amount between them.
The judge also stated that the usage of BitTorrent at The Pirate Bay is illegal. Rest assured, other torrent sites hosted in Sweden will be keeping a close eye on developments.
The defense put it to the judge that he had folded under intense political pressure. The judge denied this stating that the court made its decision based on the case presented.
At one point the judge was asked if he was concerned for his personal safety after handing down this decision. The judge said he hadn’t received any harassment and was quite surprised at the question.
While the judge won’t be getting any flowers for this verdict, Roger Wallis who spoke in favor of The Pirate Bay at their trial and received a mountain of floral tributes in return, noted, “This will cause a flood of court cases. Against all the ISPs. Because if these guys assisted in copyright infringements, then the ISPs also did. This will have huge consequences. The entire development of broadband may be stalled.”
Peter Sunde has already explained that this decision does not mean the end of the line in this case. There will be an appeal which means we are still far away from the ultimate decision - possibly years away. Any appeal from either side must be submitted to Sweden’s higher Court by 9th May 2009.
Rasmus Fleischer, one of the founders of Piratbyrån commented, “The sentence has no formal consequence and no juridical value. We chose to treat the trial as a theater play and as such it’s been far better than we ever could have believed.”
As for the fate of the site, Peter has already promised that The Pirate Bay will continue. The site itself was never on trial, only the four individuals listed above.
If you want a comprehensive look at "SpecTrial" - including the VERY LATEST news, go to torrentfreak.com - where the article came from :)
Anyways - i did however add Twitter. It's my first time using it...so, i'm like a virgin. In that sense anyways. I hope i get some followers - i don't want it to seem like a waste of space lol. I'd like to find some fellow EFx'ers on there who use it as well!
I will be doing some minor tweaking with the site to still come tonight. Nothing "Major" - i just wanna see if i can do something with the entry boxes (Maybe!) ...and a few minor changes with adding a subscription box up top where it used to be on blogger. As well as trying to make twitter a bit bigger. I'll worry about all that later :)
is it weird that reminded me of the Placebo song, Pure Morning? lol. Anyways - i wanted to do a short entry tonight about something i did on...last Tuesday. I think. It mighta been Wednesday.
On...one of those days, i got bored and decided that i'd go through the iTunes store...to see what i could buy. People tend to ask me why i use iTunes for buying music. First off - it's the ONLY store that seems to be open 24/7/365. Online that is. That's available to Canadians. Yea, i do download my share of music as well, but, if the CD or the Artist is amazing...i have no problem purchasing it. I'm what they call a "Smart Consumer". Prob'ly the only thing "Smart". The other reason i buy with iTunes is....there's no converting of the damn CD. You know how...technical that can get? Geeze! Just trying to unwrap the CD, ya need the jaws of life.
Not to say i DON'T buy CD's - normally, those are reserved for the Deluxe CDs or Special Edition CDs. I think the last CD i bought in store was...The Eagle's Very Best Of. That was along with Evanescence's Live CD.
Now ya know where i stand on this whole concept. I don't always buy stuff i hear. Independent and Canadian music? That's a whole other story, because those are the only things i seem to support nowadays.
Anyway - i got off topic. In my looking through iTunes, i noticed that we actually had a pre-order! And, it's still there, up until tomorrow or monday. I went and pre-ordered the Tragically Hip's new CD "We Are The Same" - and, i got the first single when i did! I'm actually drooling in anticipation for this CD! They haven't released anything new since "In Between Evolution" - and, that came in 2004. almost 5 years of waiting for new Hip, and after hearing the new single (Love Is A First)...you begin to understand why they're not really a secret anymore.
If that's not good enough - i get the bonus track "Hush" as well on release date - which is this Tuesday by the way. It's kind of hard to believe that i didn't start getting hardcore into the Hip until In Violet Light was released in 2002. Sure, i'd known them for a long time...but, was only into the singles, and not an entire album. That all changed though - and, now i can honestly say i'm a...Hipster.
On that note, i also got Adam Gregory's new CD, "Crazy Days". That one made me put country back on the podcast lol. Yea, that's right - you'll actually hear some country on the podcast again. Adam's new one takes me back to his CD, "Workin' On It". The sound of it is just amazingly brilliant. The songwriting is...incapable of words. The one song i'm hooked on is "Could I Just Be Me". All ya have to do is pay attention to words...and, it sounds like a life story of sorts.
Since i'm blabbing...and, i'm done with the CDs and stuff, i wanted to throw in some randomness. First off....i'm looking into an easy way for you guys to donate to me (If you so choose) to help me out with the podcast. I don't get paid to do this - and, i do it because i love it. I don't get paid to do it, but, the satisfaction of promoting music and talent is enough for me. That and the exposure to new music is always awesome! So, for those of you interested - i will find something other than paypal (Cause, to me, PP sucks anyway!) So, that those of you that wish to throw me something for my time...can do so.
I've also been thinking that below the video...i wanna remove that, and put an "Independently Licensed" thing in that write-up instead. And, that way, i can show off some of the labels i represent instead of having just links and boring text.
Also on the agenda...i'm bringing back the Artist of the Month feature. Since EFx3 supports pages made with WordPress, i'll just make a page for that. Archiving them is gonna be a little tricky - but, i might just use my webhost that i use to host the feed on and link to them in that page as well.
The last thing i wanna do is incorporate a list of sorts to what i'm listening to right now. AKA: Not Last.fm charts or anything. More along the lines of a list of my Fave CDs at the moment that will constantly change. I might just do a CD thing similar to that of the Artist Of The Month thing that will come. I have so many ideas with these 2 things, it drives me bloody insane just thinking about it!
And, of course - You guys ALWAYS have a say! So, if you have any comments about what might compliment the site and make it one of the best...let me and others know by leaving a comment! The more, the better - ya know?
