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s3vendays

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7-days.net

1 min read
Looking for a great resource site filled with Photoshop brushes, gradients, applications, wallpapers, fonts, and a lot more?  Then feel free to visit my website @ www.7-days.net
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Wrecking the Internet: Turning Gold into Lead (by Robert Storey)
________________________________________
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.
- Albert Einstein
________________________________________

Not everyone realizes that the USA invented the Internet. Even fewer people realize that the USA is on the verge of wrecking it. This is not an exaggeration. Some nasty new legislation currently under debate in the US Congress could make the Internet as bland as day-old yogurt.

Those who do not live in the USA should not be smug. There is a famous old saying that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches pneumonia. The USA has a history of exporting its bad laws. Most geeks are familiar with the notorious DMCA and software patents. Thanks to the DMCA, DVDs are region-coded and it's illegal to buy mod-chips for an Xbox. Thanks to software patents, most Linux distros do not have video codecs or an MP3 player. The fact that this execrable legislation originated in America did not prevent its rottenness from spreading around the world.

To understand what is at stake, you should become familiar with the term net neutrality. The basic concept of net neutrality is that Internet content should be dished out in a non-discriminatory fashion. Thus, your ISP should not be preventing you from accessing DistroWatch, nor should your bandwidth be throttled when you try to use BitTorrent or Skype. In this sense, the network is neutral - it does not play favorites.

All this would change (for USA residents) if the US Congress passes the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006. This odious new law is the brainchild of telecom and cable TV companies. Chief ogres include Verizon, Comcast, BellSouth and AT&T. Their incentive for pushing this legal abomination is the opportunity to make a lot of money.

The COPE Act would do away with the requirement for net neutrality, thus turning America's Internet into a "private network." This would permit ISPs and telecom companies to dish out Internet access to the highest bidder. Under such a regime, AOL could, for example, block access to MSN, or Verizon could throttle your Skype bandwidth because it competes with their own voice-over-IP service. Even worse, a wealthy political party could pay ISPs to block access to a rival party's web sites and blogs. Emailing lists could also be throttled. It's not hard to imagine proprietary software companies paying to block access to DistroWatch, or prevent you from downloading the latest Ubuntu or Fedora release.

If the COPE Act is passed, the USA - which likes to boast of being a "bastion of freedom" - could ironically wind up with an Internet befitting a Third World dictatorship. However, the damage would not be limited to residents of the USA. The fact is that about 50% of the content on the Internet originates in America, even more if you're talking only about English-language content. Do a Google search on almost any topic - from "motorcycle repair" to "allergies" - and see how much of the hits are American-based web sites. The web sites themselves could be hosted on servers outside the USA, but server location is not the issue. Rather, deprived of their US-readership or US-based advertising revenue, many sites would have to fold. Would the Internet be as useful to you if Wikipedia or Google folded? For that matter, it's hard to see how DistroWatch (which is not US-based) could survive if we lost our American audience and advertisers.

There is a lot more I could write about on this topic, but there are others who have already done so (and do it better than me). Some excellent articles about this brewing fiasco appeared recently in The Nation, Raw Story and The Free Press. Sadly, I have seen nothing mentioned on the popular geek web sites that I visit everyday (which is why I'm writing this article).

Can anything to done to prevent this disaster (especially since the COPE Act seems to have the support of the Bush administration)? Fortunately, in this case I believe there is hope, though it's going to be a bitter fight. Although we are up against powerful, well-moneyed lobbyists from the telecom industry, we also have some heavyweight supporters, among them Amazon and Google. Opposition to the COPE Act is being coordinated by Save the Internet. If you are a US resident, you should visit their web site and sign their petition. Even more important, they also have a neat little form for sending a message to your representatives and senators - just type in your message, zip code and address, and it will get sent to the proper person (you needn't even know who your representatives are). All such messages should be short and to the point. Basically, what I said in my message was:
1. I oppose the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006 in its present form.
2. I support the efforts to amend the act by Representatives Markey, Boucher, Eshoo and Inslee, and Senators Olympia Snowe and Byron Dorgan.
3. I am in favor of Net Neutrality.
The telecom/cable industry is pulling out all stops to polish this turd. Their "coalition" has the Orwellian title Hands Off the Internet - their thoroughly misleading web site can be found here.

The telecoms have lots of cash, and are handing out campaign contributions (otherwise known as "bribes") by the bucketful in order to get the COPE Act passed. Geeks of the world - especially US-based geeks - need to put down their cups of espresso for a moment and get busy fighting this thing. If we fail, the Internet will deteriorate to the point of near uselessness and we might as well put our computers in storage. In that case, we'll have to all find new hobbies. Possible candidates include knitting and flower arranging.

savetheinternet.com : www.savetheinternet.com/
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Poor guy.

2 min read
I just got home from work.. when i don't drive to work i get picked up in the front... i was waiting across the street for my mom when i noticed this guy near a garbage can.. i seen him holding a mc donalds bag when i turned around and i assumed it was his and he was throwing it away.. i kept watching and he was looking through the bag opening the wrappers and what not.. he didn't find anything and proceeded to look in to another garbage can.. so thats when i knew he was looking for food.. before i got in the car i seen him looking in another can and he found a popcorn box and was eating what was left.. and he also had an open bbq sauce container.. (i work at the zoo so people throw alot of good food away).. anyway, i felt so freggin bad.. i hate seeing people looking for food in the trash.. my mom felt bad too.. my mom drove up next to the guy and asked him if he was hungry.. and he replied yes very quickly.. i gave him what i had ($2.00) and my mom being the kind hearted person she is gave him $10.00. i felt so good knowing he would have something to eat for a few days.. it seriously made my day to know i helped someone..

another thing that kind of broke my heart was that when the big cafe in the zoo closes they have alot of left over food, today when i was there they threw out 20 hamburgers 2 bags of buns a bag of fries and onion rings and probably more i did not see. before all that got taken to the dumpster i wish i would have known that guy was going to be out there.. i would have brought him tons of food :-)
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SURVEY

3 min read
1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
Not one near me :X

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?
my bed

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Law and Order.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
5:15 pm

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
5:21 pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
the tv

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
6am, coming home.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
aim window

9. What are you wearing?
pajama pants and a grey tshirt

10. Did you dream last night?
not that i can remember.

11. When did you last laugh?
when i was on the phone with my bf a little bit ago.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? a lot of posters.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
nope.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
interesting.

15. What is the last film you saw?
if your talking in the movies then it was harry potter and the goblet of fire.. if your talking on tv then it was something about mary.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
car, house, baby kitty, and clothes.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know:
i hate chocolate.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
No wars.

19. Do you like to dance?
well.. i like to jump around.. i really wouldnt call it dancing.

20. George Bush:
Yeah I could definately do without him.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Angelina.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Jacob.


23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Perhaps.

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Welcome my child. :D

25. 4 people who must also do this in THEIR journal:
Well, the next 4 people who feel like doing it I guess.
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Tired.

1 min read
Well ive finally decided to join Deviant.. i come here alot just to browse.  im sitting here listening to weezer knowing i should be asleep its 2:56am and i have a job interview in the morning.  guess ill get off here now.
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Featured

7-days.net by s3vendays, journal

Wrecking the Internet: Turning Gold into Lead (by by s3vendays, journal

Poor guy. by s3vendays, journal

SURVEY by s3vendays, journal

Tired. by s3vendays, journal