SOPA & PIPA – A Day Of BlackOuts

As has been reported all over the world and internet today the english pages of wikipedia have gone black in protest of SOPA and PIPA . You can see just an  example of the coverage by following these links  BBC , SKY , CNN.

Now wikipedia is far from the only site to go black and the BBC has a slide show that shows many more and how the sites are supporting the cause, its well worth a view as once again there are some really interesting ways of showing their support. You can view it Here

Now you might be wondering what SOPA and PIPA actually are and why are people making such a big fuss about it, you may also be wondering why a law that is essentially american should affect us and the net as a whole.

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA Is short for Protect Interlectual Property Act.

They are basically both trying to do the same kind of things which as you can see from their names is to crack down on copyright infringement and illegal sharing. The problem lies in the ambiguous way in which these acts are going about doing this and in part whether the us government can be trusted to use the legislation in the way that it is meant for, Which as has been shown in the past with various governments in many different countries is unlikely. It will also give a lot of power  to an industry that again in the past has shown itself to be unscrupulous in the way it deals with people and the people who it accuses of violating even the current laws.

Now im not going to claim that i understand everything about these to acts but fortunately people cleverer than me have gone through the acts and places like the BBC have tried to explain them.

BBC Explanation – Here

EFF – Here

CNN – Here

Wikipedia - Here

There is also this video Which is currently on the Rock Paper Shotgun Blackout page

The reason that its important that people outside of the USA also take note of these ACTS is that not only will it affect websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia  other sites that are based in the US, it will also affect funding for sites that are outside of the US and whats more where the us leads the rest of the world will follow.

You can’t think that the company’s that support these acts such as Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), News Corp and Walt Disney among many others some of which you can view in this google doc file HERE will not turn their gaze like Sauron to Europe and the rest of the world.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy new year I know a couple of days late but still least its only 2 days.

This is a olyimpic year looking forward to that not that I expect to get to see much because I will be working during the same period that it’s on although with things like iplayer I will be at least able to catch things that I want to even if it’s not live.

Also going to be an interesting year in formula 1, 5 world champions on the grid and with the continuation of kers and drs it would seem the possibility of even more action than there was in 2011.

Last year I made a resolution to post more than I did in 2010 and to some extent I certainly did that still not really happy with the fequency but I guess I never will be and its better for me if I post when I feel like I have something to talk about rather than forcing it after all.

 

So as to the new year what are my goals

Well the first is to pass my driving test.

Then I hope to continue posting on my blog with at least a post per month

And I hope that I will get a new start with something ;P

 

So hears to the new year lets all hope that it’s a good one.

 

Projects – Update

Well its been a little while since I posted anything.

As far as my projects are concerned I havent really given it much thought. What with christmas and the cost of learning to drive as well as an increase in working hours at work I havent had the time money or inclination. I will probably pick it up again after christmas and new year.

I have however been asked by my brother to come up with a gaming pc for £800 – £1000

So that is whats going to keep me occupied for the time being.

 

Will let you know how I get on and please leave any suggestions below.

 

Next Project – Media Server

So after I managed to upgrade to my ssd I was thinking to myself what should I make my next project.

Well after a bit of thought I had the idea of creating a media server for all my entertainment needs Music, video, photos etc

Not only would this save me hdd space but would allow easier access to all computer in the house and would reduce duplication. so I got to thinking of what I need

It needs to be small and quiet but I want the components to be normal size and I want to stick with air cooling. I need it to be quiet as it will be kept where I sleep. Oh and I want it to not cost the earth.

 

Next i listed the component parts I would need

 

Case – small but normal form factor

Processor – power but cool and cheap to run

Motherboard – cheap but with as many extras as possible prehaps a decent onboard card?

Ram at least 4 gigs

Graphics – might not be needed if onboard. saw and advert for a £15 dx11 card which may be worth looking at if can’t get an onboard

HDD – 2 x 1tb in raid at very least

Wifi card – Bit awkward to get a wired connection upstairs so may be worth a look at.

Cooling – stock fans probably wont keep it quiet enough

Operating system -  probably linux based as its free. need to look into specialty os’s

 

And that’s as far as I have got so far.

 

Now i need to just have a think about what actual parts will be needed and how powerful the system will need to be. I will want it to do some on the fly encoding to a ps3 so will need some proscing power.

 

If you have any suggestions or ideas or if you have built one or have any information that you think would be useful i would be interested to know. Leave a comment below.