The week was Pure AwesomeSauce.

It was liberating, free. I was untied from most communication. No @ replies, no-one “liking” my statuses every few minutes. At one point I even found myself reading a newspaper at the coffee shop. Not bad.

I spent many solemn moments with myself, unable to contact the outside world [apart from the archaic SMS technology on my phone]. My mind would stop to ponder about the most unusual things [what is the meaning of life, why is the sky blue, is there a good recycled toilet-paper option?]. I was alone with myself, Just me and my thoughts.

But was my week more productive, was it “better” without twitter? I would have to say no. I quite enjoy my twitter friendships. The jokes, the long @reply trails, the informative articles and blogs. I love finding out whats happening on the other side of the world, as it happens.

Sure, I didnt wake up to a plethora of messages each morning [which was rather liberating]. But I also didn’t get to connect, love and grow with the people in my world like I normally do. In my view it can be fun to know what movie your boss just walked out of, and it certainly is great to follow your leader’s messages throughout the week and not just on a sunday.

Twitter adds value to my life. It’s the connection to my friends when I normally wouldn’t be able to connect.

Its the sauce on my steak. It’s the cheese in my cake. Its a little extra spice that makes existence extra-nice. Its the… well you get the idea.

Verdict: Im twitter-whipped [twipped?]

Oh, and here are some of the things I didn’t get to share with you over the last week:

- I said HELLO to a lady walking her dog outside our house. She ignored me. I said HELLO again, a little louder this time. She proceeded to turn her head way from me.

My imagination visualised me reversing over her pooch with my mitsubishi mirage. My logic kicked in and told me not to, however pleasing it may be.

- I found a new Jason Mraz album [Its not “new” per se, but it was to me] [itunes — tracks 13 to 26]

- I had several hundred philosophical thoughts worth sharing. I have since forgotten almost all of them.

- I rendered a video with media offline. it went live. snap. quality control?

- A dead man put out a movie. #zombie? #MJ

- #NoGlee #NoHouse = #SadAlex

- “thankfully we’ve only got lower limb injuries” — [news.com.au]

- The internet had a birthday

- I lost my “Blu ray virginity” to star-trek. it was FLIPPING AWESOME.

- I NEED one of these [immerz.com]

- I definatly DO NOT need to go bunjee jumping in Acapulco

1. “How would you like your hair cut today, sir?”. Is the one-word sentence “shorter” an acceptable answer? I would imagine most men would have no idea how to describe their desired hair style [or if they know their desired hairstyle]. Occasionally the hairdresser will produce a sheet of haistyles (modelled on people who have perfect bone structure). Dismayed by the pictures [“these wouldn’t look good on me”], I describe “shorter” using phrases like “not too short on top, short on the sides, can you thin it out?”
2. Clipper numbers. “Will a number 4 be OK?”. I don’t know. Its just a number. Am I supposed to know the answer to this? Furthermore, is it OK to request a size 4 and then discover that it needs to be a 3 later on in the haircut, is that offensive?
3. Side burns - Do i keep them or get rid of them? I mean, who thinks about their side-burns? Its not exactly something you ponder each day [Oh…look at his side-burns, I WISH that I had side-bruns like that!]
4. The paper-ring around the neck. It’s just a little too creepy, and that scraping noise it makes when it scratches your beard is INTOLERABLE. Like fingernails on a chalkboard. <sarcasm>Although the cape is über-stylish. I have to hold myself back from enquiring where I could purchase one.</sarcasm>
5. “How does this look?” the haridresser will enquire, while holding a mirror at the back of my head. This is the ONLY time I ever see the back of my head, I’m not even sure what it’s supposed to look like. I try to look at my hair but can only wonder where that extra-freckel came from. And before I know it the surreal moment is over and the mirror is whisked-away.
6. “What kind of product would you like in your hair?” — uhh.…pick one. I’m not going to use it again anyway. Do I LOOK like a man who uses product?
7. A new haircut never looks good. Ever. The dissatisfaction level with the end result is always high (but not high enough to complain). Its too short, too long, the sides arent just right. I decide that it will be OK, it will grow out soon anyway.
8. “Did you get a haircut?” friends enquire. No. I have a rare degenerative disease where my hair will shorten itself periodically.
9. Two weeks later my hair looks great. Always. This is part of  newtons-law.
10. Three weeks later I dont care.
11. Four weeks later people (those people) start making comments about the fact that I need a haircut.

There are support-groups for people like me, who are traumatised by the process of a bad-haircut. Would anyone like to join me?

Investigators claim to have recorded almost 100,000 instances of iiNet users making available online unauthorised copies of films and TV programs from the film studio’s catalogues, lawyers for the film industry said in court today…

“By making those films available in those…instances, iiNet customers invited any and every user of the freely available BitTorrent software program to download any and every part of those infringing copies,” the industry’s lawyers said in opening remarks.

AFACT accuses iiNet’s customers of using bittorrent traffic to “steal” copyrighted content, and proposes that iiNet should filter this traffic and disconnect users who file-share. This case is the first of its kind in Australia, and will set the legal precedent for cases in the future. If iiNet lose this one, then most Australian Bittorrent users will have to find a different solution.

Is it morally acceptable to filter internet traffic? As an internet user, you are not paying for access to “the internet”, you are paying for access to a global network of protocols and equipment. This equipment joins together to create the internet. When certain providers start blocking certain pieces of software and protocols, the integrity of the internet is challenged. Americans in particular have problems with the concept of network filtering, because it imposes on their institutional right to free-speech. (After all, isnt internet traffic only a means of transmitting information, regardless of protocol?)

NET NEUTRALITY [wikipedia] A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and on the modes of communication allowed, as well as one where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.

Blocking bittorent is only a band-aid fix for a much larger problem (the equivelant of a government blocking white vans from driving on the roads, “because most drugs are transported in white vans, and stopping white vans from driving on our roads will eliminate the drug problem”).

No matter what happens, piracy will only continue to grow in popularity, there will always be new ways to share content. Most internet users will remember napster [wikipedia], and what happened to illegal file sharing when it was shut down? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. File sharing is more popular today that it has ever been, which leads us to ask, will shutting down bittorrent traffic stop file sharing?

I would have to say: no. There are always new technologies, new workarounds and legal loop-holes. Downloaders will always find a way to download. And yet we are posed with the question: Why will file sharing continue to grow regardless of bittorrent’s future?

Most people I know do not shoplift, do not steal cars and most certainly do not snatch-bags. Yet, many of my friends share files. The law is supposed to be a moral reflection of society, laws regarding file sharing are supposed to represent the morals of its end-users. But here we are, downloading entire Michael Jackson discographies and new release blockbusters with a single click. Many bittornent users would tell you that Paying $44 for a BluRay movie is ridiculous, and that the money-hungry corporations and stars should sell their works cheaper (I bet people wouldn’t bother downloading new-release movies if they were sold for $9.99 at the local Coles)

So on one hand we have money-hungry multi-billion dollar companies “defending their rights”, and on the other side the end users are defending their right to freedom-of-speech and network-neutrality. Downloaders are going to continue downloading music, movies and TV shows, because on a moral level they diagree with the law and do not believe it to be fair.

Will the legal system sell-out to corporations? After all, the legal system is supposed to serve the people, not the corporations. The Australian legal system ESPECIALLY does not serve hollywood or the RIAA.

Also worthy of  watching: The IT crowd: File sharing

This is all my personal opionion, I do not condone file sharing in any way.

I do condone questioning the status-quo.

[View with PicLens]

(Also, what do you think of the new autumn theme?)

Yes, you CAN believe your eyes. Coldplay have released their newest album leftrightleftrightleft for free on their website. Below is the press release from coldplay.com

Good morning. The free download of Coldplay’s new live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, is now available here on Coldplay.com. Click here to download your free copy.

Today is also the day of the band’s first North American tour date, in West Palm Beach, where the first copies of the LRLRL CD will be given away.
The CD will then be handed out to all fans at every remaining Coldplay live show in 2009 (apart from Festival shows). The free download will also be available from Coldplay.com until the band play their final 2009 show.
We hope you like it.
Anchorman

So, without further ado, go to this page, punch in your email address and hit download. Its 54mb of audio-goodness purely for your enjoyment!

I’ve decided to set some weekly goals in terms of my encouragement:

1. Buy someone coffee. Sit, talk and encourage them to pursue their dreams.
2. Do not write a cranky email pointing out someone’s failures (or as we often call them —  “points you could improve on”). Instead, find something they are good at and invest + encourage them with my words.
3. Buy someone flowers — just to show them they are special.
4. Find someone I talk to regularly (Coles checkout worker, petrol station cashier, work receptionist) and tell them what an amazing job they are doing. Tell the person how much i feel valued when i talk with them.
5. Ask someone close-by (a colleague perhaps) how I can help them when they become stressed.
6. Write at least 2 encouraging notes/emails to volunteers or other staff.

Now I don’t actually expect to fulfill all of these each week. Realistically 3 or 4 would be amazing, as my schedule changes from week to week. But I will take a purposeful stride in encouraging others — sharing the love of God to the people in my life through my words and actions.

The lyrics of a recent song resonate in my mind when I consider sharing His love with my words -

“every breath I breathe, I will breathe for You, Jesus. Every word I speak, i’ll speak for You, Jesus”  - All My Heart (Above the Golden State)

Every breath will be a chorus to the Lord, every word will be a poem of love, slowly unfolding.

Taken from the submissions list on failblog. Easily becoming one of my favorite sites.

more fail, owned and pwned pics and videos

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Oh, almost forgot. We should be getting our stimulus package bonus soon. Check out centrelink (current centrelink benefit recipients) or the ATO (the rest of us) for more info.

Please make sure the ATO has your most recent details! Fill out those outstanding tax returns, update the phone number, address and bank account details so that you can recieve your $900! A link to the ATO update service is on their website, or you can call them on 1300 686 636 during business hours.

To those of you who are thinking “NO WAY DUDE! that’s a scam”, you can check out the UroClub™ website here.

Kudos to failblog.org for making my day just that much more enjoyable!

This time it looks like they’ve found the mythical city of Atlantis, with the “google ocean” extension to google earth. 

“The site lies 620 miles off the west coast of Africa near the Canary Islands — a location for Atlantis seemingly suggested by the ancient philosopher Plato.”

“He believed it was an island civilisation sunk by an earthquake and floods around 9,700BC — nearly 12,000 years ago.”

The legend of Atlantis has captured the mind of adventures, treasure hunters and scholars alike for centuries. 

Read more at the following link:

‘Atlantis’ spotted on ocean floor off Africa | The Sun |News.