Pile of Crap

Pile of Crap :: News pileofcrap.org's news listing http://pileofcrap.org/ Facebook is hilarious SmrtySsa wrote:I tried to change my name back to it's realness only to be greeted with this:"Your name change request has been rejected by our automated approval system."Priceless.Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2725">Facebook is hilarious . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2725/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:46:25 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (SmrtySsa) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2725/ Continuing the Rant Quigley wrote:Chain restaurants also appear to be better here than back home. Quizno's is tastier than you could imagine without actually eating it. Pizza Hut has far more selection and the food tastes amazing - and, if you ask them for their beer selection, they don't say, "we have Blue... and Blue Light." Even Teriyaki Experience was better - nicer meat, more flavour. I... I just don't understand. What's so hard about this stuff that we can't figure it out???Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2724">Continuing the Rant . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2724/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:29:22 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Quigley) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2724/ Eyes Further Opened Quigley wrote:I wrote an article. It is here: <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/articles/752/">Eyes Further Opened . Pile of Crap :: </a>Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2723">Eyes Further Opened . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2723/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:48:15 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Quigley) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2723/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YO! Asrai wrote:Dudes, it's D-rock's birthday. Happy birthday, yo. As part of your present, I promise to never call you D-rock again :)Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2722">HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YO! . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2722/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:50:21 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Asrai) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2722/ Everyone Needs to Come Here Quigley wrote:My first real test of Costa Rican society has come. I appear to have a nagging chest infection that is worsening with time. It started last September and has been with me almost constantly ever since. To date, I have been to see my family doctor about it three times, as well as visiting two different hospitals in London. I have made a total of six requests to see a specialist, pointing out that my symptoms are atypical and the prescribed drugs are not helping me. All six were denied, save for one which was deferred from a respirologist to an allergist and booked nine months in advance.Having arrived in Costa Rica, my condition has worsened. With the help of a friend (who is basically a stranger), I managed yesterday to secure an appointment with an American-trained, English-speaking respirologist two days from now. It will cost me roughly $70 including diagnostic tests, and I don't need a referral from a G.P. Moreover, the woman who set it up for me, whom I have met only one time, has insisted that Deanna and I stay in her home in San Jose while I'm dealing with the doctors, and is arranging for rides between her house and the clinic.People rave about the politeness and gentleness of Canadians. I think that's because they haven't travelled enough. The sort of unrelenting generosity and warmth of the people here - locals and ex-pats alike - easily eclipses anything I've experienced at home. From the security guard at our condo complex who asked us if we needed help with our luggage, and after we said "no, gracias," followed us anyway and carried one of our 50 pound suitcases upstairs to our unit, to the taxi driver who left his car, walked across the street and up the stairs with our groceries, brought them right to our door, and then looked confused when I tipped him, to the bed & breakfast owner who offered to drive half an hour each way to pick us up at the airport, just because we were paying him $40 for a night in his hotel... you simply can't beat these people. And now, finally, I've thrown my health into the hands of a stranger, and she has put more effort into my well being in a few hours than the doctors at home could muster over several months.This post isn't meant to belittle Canadians; on the contrary, I believe Canadians are generally great people - and a lot of the great people I've met in Costa Rica *are* Canadians. There's something about our country itself, though, that fosters selfishness. We've become far too Americanized, too caught up in ourselves, to notice other people as much as we likely did when we first forged our reputation as the friendliest people in the world. And down here, that environment is nonexistent. It's something I believe anyone can learn from, as I hope to.I really do believe everyone should come here. It isn't expensive, if you do it right; everyday life is much cheaper than at home. Far fetched, probably, but if anyone seeks to make a pilgrimage (or pop down for a few days) within the next month and a bit, Deanna and I would be glad to hang out, show you around, even lend you our couch for a while. Lots of attractive young women! And men, actually, so as not to be sexist. Great beaches, great people, great times. I feel like I'm writing an ad for the place - in the '80's. But you know... just get y'all asses down here. :PVisit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2721">Everyone Needs to Come Here . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2721/ Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:44:20 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Quigley) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2721/ There's a Fire Burning, and It's Hot. SmrtySsa wrote:As expected the online community is enraged by the proposed copyright bill. Enraged to a point where it's damn near impossible to keep up with it all. Fortunately some people are better at summarizing things than I am, so as usual, I'm going to copy from Micheal Geist's blog[1]. <blockquote> As expected, Prentice has provided a series of attention-grabbing provisions to consumers including time shifting, private copying of music (transferring a song to your iPod), and format shifting (changing format from analog to digital). These are good provisions that did not exist in the delayed December bill. However, check the fine print since the rules are subject to a host of strict limitations and, more importantly, undermined by the digital lock provisions. The effect of the digital lock provisions is to render these rights virtually meaningless in the digital environment because anything that is locked down (ie. copy-controlled CD, no-copy mandate on a digital television broadcast) cannot be copied. As for every day activities like transferring a DVD to your iPod - those are infringing too. Indeed, the law makes it an infringement to circumvent the locks for these purposes. </blockquote> Anybody who's ever copied a CD or DVD to their computer knows that it's pretty damn easy to do so[2]. But how many of you know that you're actually circumventing a digital copy protection mechanism? These mechanisms have been around for quite some time and time and time again they've been proven to be worthless when it comes to users and their desire to use the media they purchased in ways they want. <blockquote> The other headline grabber is the $500 fine for private use infringement. This will be heralded as a reasonable compromise, but check the fine print. Canadian law already allows a court to order damages below $500 per infringement, so the change may not be as dramatic as expected (though $500 in damages is the maximum for private use infringement). Moreover, it is already arguably legal to download sound recordings in Canada. Under the proposal, there are exceptions for uploading or posting music online (ie. making available) and even the suggestion that posting a copyright-protected work to YouTube could result in the larger $20,000 per infringement damage award. </blockquote> That sure was a headline grabber. It's all I read in print. So, the scenario is this: you make a video of your best buddies doing stupid things, you use a small clip of audio from a song or movie to express how you feel about your buddies and you upload it to youtube. Guess what? You're on the hook now. I can name a few users here who have definitely violated that part. I have one last thing that I want to point out from Michael's blog[3]. And this one hits me right on the head, because I love my privacy. <blockquote> So why is it a betrayal? ... Because in a country that prioritizes privacy, the Canadian DMCA will render it virtually impossible to protect against the invasion of privacy by digital media companies. The bill includes an exemption for those that circumvent digital locks to protect their privacy, yet renders the tools needed to circumvent illegal. In other words, the bill gives Canadians the right to protect their privacy but prohibits the tools needed to do so. </blockquote> Basically that means if you insert a DVD or a CD and it installs something to assist in their "copy protection"[4] or just send them usage data, violating your privacy[5], you are not allowed to remove it. Because the tools (Anti virus software, ad-aware, malware detectors) will effectively become illegal as they are circumvention tools. [1] <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3025/125/">Michael Geist - The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print</a> [2] <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/05/22/1439253">Slashdot | Felt Tip Marker Defeats Copy-Protected CDs</a> [3] <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3029/125/">Michael Geist - The Canadian DMCA: A Betrayal</a> [4] <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/31/2016223">Slashdot | Sony DRM Installs a Rootkit?</a> [5] <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/11/07/1221209.shtml">Slashdot | Sony Rootkit Phones Home</a> Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2720">There's a Fire Burning, and It's Hot. . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2720/ Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:02:26 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (SmrtySsa) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2720/ Look out Canada, Here Comes the DCMA! SmrtySsa wrote: The Industry Minister of Canada, the (Dis)honoable Jim Prentice, is about to announce the Canadian version of the DCMA (That's the digital millennium copyright act - a US law that's only ever benefit the big-guns at the MPAA and RIAA) But, as those dudes over at boingboing state: <blockquote> Industry Canada Minister Jim Prentice is about to introduce his Canadian version of America's disastrous Digital Millennium Copyright Act tomorrow. In so doing, he is violating his own party's promise to seek public consultation on all treaty accession bills, he's ignoring the cries of rightsholders, industry, educators, artists, librarians, citizens' rights groups, legal scholars and pretty much everyone with a stake in this, except the US Trade Representative and the US Ambassador, who, apparently, have had ample opportunity to chat with the Minister and give him his marching orders. </blockquote> Jim Prentice, You're an asshole. P.S. I checked, that's not libel, because it's a clearly fact. <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/go.php?http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/11/canadian-industry-mi-1.html">Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice loads the DMCA, aims it at Canada's temple, and pulls the trigger - Boing Boing</a> Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2719">Look out Canada, Here Comes the DCMA! . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2719/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:05:17 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (SmrtySsa) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2719/ Nature's Fury Elvish Kitty wrote:There was a call for major thunderstorms today...which is awesome. I looked out the window to see rain being driven sideways, so my brother and I were said "COOL!"So we go to run outside to stand in the wind and rain and be drenched because that's just awesome...and just in time to see the wind rip a branch the width of my leg right off the huge tree across the street. And, thankfully, not land on anyone or anything except the road.And then I came back inside, closed all the windows, and came in here...and Peter Gabriel's Here Comes the Flood was on.Talk about irony.Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2718">Nature's Fury . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2718/ Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:01:51 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Elvish Kitty) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2718/ High Speed Chase Quigley wrote:Yesterday was our first full day in Playa del Coco, Costa Rica - and what an exciting one it was, for a while. My Grandmother fell victim to a pickpocketing at a roadside fruit stand, and where most stupid gringos would have cut bait, we all piled in the car and went after the motherfuckers. My mother handed me the keys (wisely; this is my strong suit), but even with my skillful driving we were unable to apprehend the thieves' superior vehicle in our crappy 4-door Yaris. They had a good 30 second head start down the crowded 2-lane highway, and they were in a modern 4 wheel drive SUV, much better at handling the curves and massive potholes. I maxed our vehicle out at 145 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, and we stuck with them for a good ten minutes until they narrowly escaped by swerving around a bus on a blind curve. At that point we decided the money and the passport weren't worth risking our lives. We drove through the local towns looking for the car, but for now, it's a total loss. My Uncle purchased a few grenades in Nicaragua on a recent trip, and plans to use them if we find the bastards responsible.We anticipate that the rest of our two months here will seem less like a B movie from the 80's and more like what real life is in most places in the world. This, however, hit home rather firmly: we're not in fucking Kansas anymore.Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2717">High Speed Chase . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2717/ Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:16:55 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Quigley) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2717/ Hullo there. Ak0dem1x wrote:I recalled my affection for this (virtual) place when I came across the pileofcrap.org Facebook group. It always brings a smile to my face, and joy to my heart.Anyway, how are all of you?Visit PoC to leave comments and interact! <a href="http://pileofcrap.org/news/2716">Hullo there. . Pile of Crap :: </a> http://pileofcrap.org/news/2716/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:09:25 -0400 poc@pileofcrap.org (Ak0dem1x) http://pileofcrap.org/news/2716/