I, personally, living in Australia see multitudes of people complain about products that aren’t made or owned by Australian companies. For example: I was at a fruit store the other week and an elderly lady was outspokenly committed to warn people away from the Californian oranges as they were imported. Out loud; she said “you are un-Australian if you do not buy Australian groceries”

Naturally, my internal response was “fuck off I’ll buy what I want” but to see the concern that Australians have on imported and internationally grown/manufactured items is not one that is uncommon.

This brings me to one of my favourite stores: Aldi.

Aldi is cheap, cheerful and straight to the point. According to the likes of Australian businessman Dick Smith; I should feel guilty for purchasing from Aldi and not an Australian corporation:

So what’s happened is Aldi have very low overheads – I think they only have three or four people in a typical Aldi store.  Aldi is a very German company – you basically do what you’re told – they pick one product and, let’s say it’s going to be a beetroot, well that’s the one they pick and that’s the one you have to buy.  Whereas the Australian tradition has been one of “freedom of choice” with going into Woolworths or Coles and saying “I don’t want the imported one, I want the local one” or “I want a premium quality one” – people would make that decision so that’s the difference.

Now with Coles and Woolworths competing with Aldi they have ruthlessly had to get the cost down because we’re not eating more…Aldi is making a fortune.  Of course the difference is the Aldi money goes to Germany… competing the big supermarkets have basically screwed the Australian processors out of business. 

If you’re interested in reading more on Dick Smith’s anti-foreign industry views – his website’s full of it.

The economy cannot strive on its own. If we don’t import then do we expect to export? Sure, maybe that’s not Dick’s point – the ‘extreme capitalism’ as he once called it is the issue but in such times of economic stress; is it realistic to pay $4 for a product that one could get for $1 at a non-Australian retailer?

Upon preparation of this story, I contacted Mr. Smith directly and asked if consumers are perhaps resorting to making their purchases from foreign-owned retailers purely on saving money – his publicist, however, responded to me and declined to answer my question or provide any discussion for this website. Maybe he doesn’t like the fact we pay Europe for our hosting and services?

When you look up the words “Is Australia” on Google one of the first few suggestions is “Racist?” – A question that many – even Australians such as myself – have often asked.

To put it bluntly: Australians are quite racist at times, but in a relaxed manner. Typically, the Australian way of life is one that openly spreads the point “If you don’t like it then why should I care?”

Australians can be quite intolerant – but when it comes to foreign interest, they are more-or-less ignorant rather than xenophobic. There is a certain pride to everything that happens in Australia. One of these prides is supporting Australian businesses, entertainment and finances. Many people justify the incredible expenses that have to be paid here by simply and patriotically standing firm and saying “because I support Australia.”

If you purchase a European car then people will be content. If you purchase an Australian one, they will probably like you more.

The same goes for things like music, movies, actors and performers. Most of the time when Australian events have rockstars from overseas perform for them, they are criticised as “we have plenty of good acts here!”

For example: Meat Loaf did a huge Australian sporting event. His voice was way off and his performance was dreadful – something he blamed on the audio engineers that he was provided with due to his in-ear monitors being set badly – but immediately, the anger rose over the fact that we had paid a foreign singer to do an Australian event. (For the sake of defence: I attended the Meat Loaf gig a few days later and his concert was stellar)

The issue of buying from local retailers rather than online vendors is another that strikes the heart of many patriotic Australians. Purchasing a child’s book from the online-only store Book Depository will cost you an average of $3 including the free postage, when purchasing from an Australian retailer will cost anything from $10 to $20. It’s also worth noting that the US/EU online retailer can expect the item to be shipped within 24 hours, whilst the Australian one claims 4 days. Ideally, would this book I have used as an example be coming from the exact same place? Who is to say that the book will loosely be distributed to the Australian retailer so that they can forward it on and take the large portion of profit on top?

Likewise, the online and retail store in Australia “JB HI FI” usually has very reasonable prices but even then, if you’re willing to purchase from Australian-operating businesses such as WOWHD – you can save significantly.

So by encouraging people to go for the cheaper alternative – am I now un-Australian? Should I be insisting that people avoid handing their hard earned money to Australian businesses for the sake of saving?

When a local factory closes, Australians are often quick to criticise the consumers and not the government. For instance – Australian luxury confectionary company Darrell Lea has been hit heavily and pushed into debt. The cost of Australian-made liquorice would sit at $6 per bag, when competitor Cadbury would offer the same (or even more) for $4. Who’s to blame? 

The cost of an Australian-made beer is about 45%+ more in Australia than overseas. How does that even make sense?

You could point the finger at the average wage – but keep in perspective that it doesn’t justify living costs, especially not with the employment rates and vacancy of jobs.

According to the Deutsche Bank, Australia is visibly overpriced compared to the rest of the world. Their findings state the following price differences between the US and Australia:

McDonalds Big Mac – $4.90 in Australia, $4.37 in America

2L of Coca Cola – $3.61 in Australia, $2.35 in America

Pint of beer – $8.20 in Australia, $6.00 in America

Pair of Levi Jeans – $115 in Australia, $56 in America

20 pack of Marlboro Cigarettes – $19.21 in Australia, $12.31in America

Five-star hotel room – $933 for Sydney, $419 for New York

2013 Volkswagen Golf (Automatic) – $37,444 in Australia, $26,044 in America

To put it all into contrast – the reason Australians choose to is because with such high tax rates, domestic postage costs, and the constant rise of fuel and electricity prices; should people feel as if they owe the country’s economy more than what they have given or can afford to give?

Are Adobe committing suicide with their new ‘mandatory subscription only’ model for the tools of choice (Photoshop, Dreamweaver etc.) for so many industries?

With a Facebook page full of disappointment from loyal users and multiple petitions demanding Adobe to re-think their plans – Adobe has annoyed many freelancers and designers (such as yours truly) with accusations of greed and capitalising on people already struggling during this economy.

Adobe is expecting users to enter a forced 12 month commitment, but the user owns nothing. You’re not buying the Adobe suite of applications; you’re renting them.

Your applications WILL be installed on your PC – so they aren’t browser based – but you’d be forced to connect to the net frequently to verify that you’ve licensed the software. This decision, however, is apparently not an attempt to avoid piracy.

There are worries that those who have had their licenses expire won’t be able to access their files and would have to enter another 12 month contract just to simply remove a layer and export the image or adjust a website layout. This, ultimately, could mean that freelancers will have to charge more in order to break even on their projects.

I’ve compiled some of the many comments (ironically, using Photoshop) but perhaps one of the most interesting comment is the response issued by competitor Corel.

So far a High Court verdict has enforced mandatory censorship for major internet service providers BT, Sky, Virgin Media, O2, EE and TalkTalk. The sites in question that have been blocked are The Pirate Bay, KickAss Torrents (KAT), Fenopy and H33T.

Earlier this month, Torrentfreak reported that the fantasy action series “Game of Thrones” was the most pirated television program. This triggered a rather welcoming response from HBO’s programming president Michael Lombardo who considered the statistics as a compliment, especially as Game of Thrones was the network’s best-selling DVD season release of 2012.

“The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [People downloading is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.”

Now it would seem that the monopolists in the USA have expanded their missions past the UK to the European Union with the threats that Spain – who have been rather apathetic on copyright infringement – would be added to their trade block list.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Boycott the industries that waste their money on abusing the political system to maintain their ridiculous profits and support the industries that support piracy and understand the true benefits of it and support the artists that don’t push the excess of anti-piracy messages.

Random note for fans of the band Senses Fail – managing to ask drummer Dan Trapp a question about piracy during his chat with AbsolutePunk yielded this response:

As we sift through the daily papers and figure that all the world’s mainstream media are suddenly either Catholic or fascinated about reporting the Vatican’s new series “Pope X-Factor” (no, not really, but it’s a good idea) – one thing stands out the most. Black smoke = no pope.

Whilst the entire population of Pope Loyalists focus on these ‘important’ times, I’ve been focusing on the irritating truth that the Catholic Church has always possessed gold, riches and the supposed authority to act on behalf of some form of higher being.

I do not care for the Catholic Church, or religion at all, but wouldn’t it be nice to see a black pope? And furthermore, in these ‘important times, how about a female? Or better yet; a homosexual female?

Oh right. That’s not how many religious institutions work is it?

No, instead today we find Pope Francis is perhaps the perfect choice for a new pope. He opposes abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption and he’s heavily vocal against safe-sex and contraception. Typical.

Whilst the last 24 months or so has been rather turmoil with the all-too-common allegations of sexual misconduct within the church and the whole Vatileaks Scandal – where Pope Benedict’s personal butler Paolo Gabriele allegedly leaked information exposing the corruption and lack of transparency in the Vatican as well as money laundering, blackmailing and bribery.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI was paid about $200 million of ‘uncounted’ money – the Vatican, which is its own independent state, sets aside this type of money for their elite members – who they deem as “chosen by God” to maintain authority over the Vatican, the Catholics and the finances governed by the ‘religion’.

Where are my sources? Well…that’s difficult isn’t it? I have to rely on these supposedly “criminal” leaks that can cause a worldwide condemnation from the Vatican against my opinions.

All the profits from the Institute of the Works of Religion (IOR) are given to the pope as part of his private income. According to veteran journalist, Sandro Magister, these earnings amount to over 70 million euros every year; all handed down to the pope for his amazing works of charity.

Groups and organisations of Papal Foundations and Catholic institutes give an unstipulated gift annually “to support and help [the Pope] with his requested programs and missions throughout the world.”
This isn’t to say that the Pope has not used his annual income for good – but the publicised $10,000,000 donations handed to various – and mostly catholic – institutions are certainly no match for the priceless artefacts and gold hanging around the Vatican.

The pope is a man who shares his prayers for those who are affected by poverty, all while holding a cross made of solid gold and sitting in a throne within a practically priceless temple. In 2011 the pope claimed that Christmas has become to commercial and criticised those who use "gold glitter" (tinsel).

The highly anticipated release of PC game SimCity has been met with unanimous condemnation over its anti-piracy measures. The game requires players to be connected to the internet to play the game and if that’s not enough of a deterrent, if the servers are full or undergoing maintenance then you’re shit out of luck.

SimCity, the first release of the archetypal city-building simulator in 10 years, has now been made ‘unavailable’ through online retailing giant Amazon.com

Players are finding that the servers are being overloaded and therefore aren’t saving their game progress. Anyone who genuinely purchased the game is confronted with the irritation that the town they have spent hours on building will have to be reverted to their last save (whenever they saved when the server worked) or they’ll have to trash the whole thing. Bad experiences like that usually put people off using the product at all.

Treat your patrons like patrons, not crooks.

You can blame the rising debts of governments all around the world on multiple factors, but one thing will always stand out: the money spent on wars, arms and obtaining natural resources such as oil could have been put to better use.

Whilst many will strike back at these particulars, there is no denying that “defending the world from terrorists” has cost more than just lives and money.

Brazilian professor Thomas Lewinsohn has renewed the theory that we know less about Earth than we assume, with his estimate that an enormous amount of the Earth’s projected 13 million species are still unknown.

What’s more alarming is his evidence that the world spent $1.738 trillion on arms in 2011, whilst only $195 billion was spent on NASA’s space shuttle program between 1971 and 2011.

This has been the way it is for the last 50 or 60 years and you could argue that the money the world has spent on weapons could have been put to better use and could have cured things like cancer.

If it takes someone like Bill Gates to donate a few billion dollars to provide essential and simple vaccines against diarrhoea then imagine the influence a ‘rich’ government could have over the poor.

We live in a world that aims to defend the borders and take lives, not save them.

The UK has officially joined the handful of countries enabling Gay Marriage to be officially recognised after much debate between religious and conservative groups.

The Marriage Bill – often referred to as the Same Sex Couples Bill – will enable same-sex couples to marry in both civil and religious ceremonies.

Couples who have previously entered into civil partnerships can now translate their relationship into a government-recognised marriage.

There have been multiple comments throughout the debate with Roger Gale even calling the bill ‘Orwellian’ but Prime Minister David Cameron stands strong behind the bill claiming it will make the UK stronger.

“It is not possible to redefine marriage. Marriage is the union between a man and a woman, has been historically, remains so. It is Alice in Wonderland territory, Orwellian almost, for any Government of any political persuasion to seek to come along and try to re-write the lexicon. It will not do.” – Roger Gale

Quick schooling for this article:

Have you ever noticed that every now and then two companies appear to be under the exact same brand name, logo or group when it seems that they are entirely different? Such as how there are ten newspapers in your city that are all published under the same company? Or that your pen says it’s made by Mitsubishi? Wait, don’t they make cars? Couldn’t be the same company right?

The word to use: Conglomerate. Con – glaw – mah – rit.

Conglomerates are usually made up of one big company and its many subsidiaries. Going from the Mitsubishi example you may be surprised to know that under a conglomerate setting – Nikon cameras are technically Mitsubishi cameras. Perhaps they are in disguise or perhaps, and more logically, they are funded/backed/owned/merged/whatever by the parent company. Referring to my earlier reference suggesting Mitsubishi pens; Uni-ball – one of the most common gel pen manufacturers – is actually Mitsubishi.

Another term related to this form of super-corporation is “multinational company” – maybe what is a supermarket in America called “super awesome market” may also be operating as practically the same thing in Britain but with the name “Happy’s supermarket”

You’ve probably seen the other Mitsubishi products like Air-conditioning units, televisions, cassette tapes and the list goes on.

A Conglomerate may not necessarily “own” what it lists as a subsidiary or ‘baby company’, but simply own part of it or have a share in its earnings. For instance; you may have heard that Microsoft ‘owns’ Facebook. This doesn’t mean Microsoft actually started the social networking giant or acquired it, but it does mean that it controls a major part of its operations. The more money, the more influence! If Microsoft owned 90% of Facebook then you’d guess they’d have 90% say in what the company does and doesn’t do. For the record though, we doubt Microsoft has much say in major Facebook implementations as they own just about 1.6% of the company.

One of the most well-known conglomerates would have to be “News Corporation” – often mentioned simply as “News Corp”. As well as being the parent of “News Limited”, a company which is often mistaken for being a media competitor, News Corp are often criticised for their mass monopoly. If you plan on arguing that the mainstream media is biased and that it often covers its own controversies up then you should have plenty of material and evidence to go on.

Berkshire Hathaway – owned by Warren Buffet – is a prime example of ‘giant-company-with-many-tentacles’ ventures. If they aren’t selling you insurance, they’re selling you clothes. Beneficial ownership’s include the likes of American Express, Coca-Cola Company (which in itself is – in some countries – is the parent of Pepsico who make Pepsi, Sunkist and 7up etc. How’s that for strange competition?) And even IBM.

Returning to the idea of using Windows 8 and the Surface tablet and automatically being a user of Microsoft’s cloud service “SkyDrive”, we received an interesting set of complaints from a reader wishing to express his distrust in Microsoft’s moderating team for disabling his ENTIRE account for saving part of his hard drive image on his SkyDrive account – which he claims included a password protected zip archive that contained a few “artistic photography shoots” involving a semi-naked lady (reader claims to be a professional photographer).

Rather than disabling his private file storage abilities, he claims to have lost access to his Hotmail, Xbox Live and Microsoft Developer accounts.

Of course, Microsoft does have terms of service that allow them to do this – but it raises the question of how private, non-shared files that (more alarmingly) are password protected may be accessed by Microsoft staff.

The prohibited uses are outlined in Microsoft’s Code of Conduct

You will not upload, post, transmit, transfer, distribute or facilitate distribution of any content (including text, images, sound, video, data, information or software) or otherwise use the service in a way that:

· depicts nudity of any sort including full or partial human nudity or nudity in non-human forms such as cartoons, fantasy art or manga.

· incites, advocates, or expresses pornography, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, hatred, bigotry, racism, or gratuitous violence.

· misrepresents the source of anything you post or upload, including impersonation of another individual or entity.

· provides or creates links to external sites that violate this Code of Conduct.

· includes content that is protected by intellectual property laws, rights of privacy or publicity, or any other applicable law unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents.

· is intended to harm or exploit minors in any way.

· is designed to solicit, or collect personally identifiable information of any minor (anyone under 18 years old), including, but not limited to: name, email address, home address, phone number, or the name of their school.

· invades anyone’s privacy by attempting to harvest, collect, store, or publish private or personally identifiable information, such as passwords, account information, credit card numbers, addresses, or other contact information without their knowledge and willing consent.

· is illegal or violates any applicable local and national laws; including but not limited to child pornography, bestiality, incest, illegal drugs, software piracy, and harassment.

· threatens, stalks, defames, defrauds, degrades, victimizes or intimidates an individual or group of individuals for any reason; including on the basis of age, gender, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race or religion; or incites or encourages anyone else to do so.

· harms or disrupts, or intends to harm or disrupt, another user’s computer or would allow you or others to illegally access software or bypass security on Web sites, or servers, including but not limited to spamming.

· attempts to impersonate a Microsoft employee, agent, manager, host, administrator, moderator, another user or any other person through any means.

· promotes or otherwise facilitates the purchase and sale of ammunition or firearms.

· contains or could be considered ‘junk mail’, ‘spam’, ‘chain letters’, ‘pyramid schemes’, ‘affiliate marketing’ or unsolicited commercial advertisement.

· mischaracterizes content you post or upload or contains the same or similar content to other content you have already posted.

· attempts to manipulate the services, including ranking and reputation systems in the services, by violating any of the provisions of this Code of Conduct, colluding with others on voting or using multiple profiles.

· offers to make international money transfers for amounts exceeding the asking price of an item, with intent to request a refund of any portion of the payment.

· contains advertising for money making schemes, discount cards, credit counseling, online surveys or online contests.

We contacted Microsoft’s moderation team for comment and were given a canned response claiming that with or without warning – these terms will remain effective regardless of private or shared storage. They avoided our concerns over the alleged cracking of a password protected upload.

So, we’re intrigued – has anyone else experienced similar issues with SkyDrive?

This year Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is off to a bit of a shaky start with U.S. Regulators confirming that there are “concerns” for the aircraft, though they state that the planes are still deemed safe enough for flight.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a “comprehensive review” is to take place, putting prominence on the 787′s advanced electrical systems and design, manufacturing and overall assembly.

This slight hiccup halts Boeing just days after a probe by US safety investigators into a battery fire which caused “some serious damage” to an empty Japan Airlines 787 at Boston airport.

On the 8^th of January, 2013 a 787 experienced a fuel leak whilst United Airlines reported an issue with wiring. On January 11, 2013, a cockpit window fractured and another engine was found to have a fuel leak.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, priced at $207 million USD, is still faithfully supported by airliners despite Boeing’s delays in manufacturing and delivering the aircrafts as well as being well over its initial budget.

All crafts experience difficulties during their first runs and so confidence in the aircraft manufacturer has not depleted. From a business perspective however, Boeing’s shares have dropped by roughly 3% since the media began reporting the difficulties.

The Kulluk, which broke free from a tow ship in stormy seas and ran aground, has over 56000 litres of diesel fuel on-board.

Steven Russell of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said that, so far, there was no sign of harm to the environment or wildlife. The Kulluk is in the Sitkalidak Strait, home to a threatened species of sea lion.

A system designed to collect oil in the case of an accident failed during testing, preventing Shell from drilling into oil-bearing formations during its abbreviated exploration season.

A sign of things to come?

If you’ve been paying attention to the headlines over the last 12 months (particularly the last few weeks) then you’ve most likely seen the panic that America is facing with its agreements, deals, meetings and avoid-at-all-cost mannerisms concerning a so-called “FISCAL CLIFF”

So what in the hell is it?

Okay:

The "fiscal cliff" is the term used for detrimental and gradual economic effects that will result from things like tax increases, spending cuts, and a corresponding reduction in the US budget insufficiency.

The deficit (which more or less describes how much the government spends and what it takes) is planned to be reduced by about 43% in 2013. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) guesstimates that this sudden decrease in the arrears – the fiscal cliff – will lead to a mini-recession in 2013 with the subsequent increase in unemployment.

Whilst most avenues are excluded from funding cuts (such as Veteran Pensions) – Spending for defence amongst other interests will be slightly trimmed in various ways to avoid any further extremes.

As of writing (January 1, 2012) – The fiscal cliff has not actually officially occurred but should it do so within the month then America’s overall debt will increase.

According to the U.S. National Debt Clock the current American debt is $16422892300000. In plainer terms that is a total amount of 16 trillion, 422 billion, 892 million, 300 thousand dollars.

The term, used by those who are unable to grasp “Carpe Diem” (seize the day), has been published in multiple forms including shirts, hats and even tattoos.

The difficulty of claiming absolute ownership on a quote or a saying varies but it has been accomplished in the past with producers managing to license the catch “that’s hot” used by Paris Hilton and sidekick Nicole Richie.

YOLO is a stupid acronym that can often be distorted to encourage reckless behaviour and carelessness. One example of this is a Twitter post by aspiring rapper Ervin McKinness just prior to his death that described his enjoying life at almost 200 kilometres an hour whilst intoxicated.
“Drunk af [as fuck] going 120 drifting corners #FuckitYOLO”

The stupidity of claiming the rights to something you supposedly said is often backed by evidence of it existing before you “coined” it. A waltz from the mid 1800s by Johann Strauss II entitled “Man lebt nur einmal!” actually translates to “You Only Live Once!”

It’s no secret that the relationships between artists and publishers have always been tense – this (mostly) comes down to the fact that many contracts claim absolute ownership of the artist. This can – no joke – include control over opinions, fashion style, concert setlists and views that may conflict with the record industries business ventures (for example; many record company executives are Jewish and therefore they require artists to refrain from having a say on tensions in Israel)

If you take a look at the RIAA website’s response to the common questions related to piracy — archived here – you’ll see that many of the misleading and often backpedalling concerns are mentioned as loss to the artists which is never usually the case. When was the last time you heard about a successful band going bankrupt? Furthermore, when did you see a company leader such as Rupert Murdoch fall into financial troubles from OUR doing?

Many publishing companies fail to mention in their annual reports that their losses were due to bad investments, instead, blaming it on illegal downloading. If you see our infographic here you’ll notice that the industry has literally grown since the rise in piracy and cheaper bandwidth with wider access.

In 2011, the RIAA claimed that the P2P software Limewire was responsible for over $75 trillion in damages…factually, there isn’t even that much money in existence.

Have a browse through our Disclosure Vault piracy documents here to gain a better understanding in the misinformation spread by the global capitalists who are so against piracy.

Lately many artists have distanced themselves from the record industry with the lucky ones departing from the diligence altogether. Acts such as Blink 182, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Counting Crows, Metallica and Def Leppard have recently parted from their ‘owners’ or have expressed their dissatisfaction with them.

An Artist on average receives less than 15% of the money their tracks and merchandise rake in – and only after they “recoup” all of the expenses for videos, tours, distributions and general promotional material – regardless of whether or not they chose direction.

Many artists assert that their record labels are screwing them over with ownership rights on their back-catalogues including the aforementioned Def Leppard stating that they’ll have to record “forgeries” in order to have that little extra control. This is evidence that no matter what; the publishers always own you for life.

The phrase, “KJU GAS CHAMBERS” presumably refers to the North Korean leaders’ covert and ruthless prison camps, where families have supposedly been gassed at the Kim Jong Un’s demand.

Whilst several methods are in fact possible to fudge the numbers, it doesn’t help that Bashar Assad – the centre of the Syrian conflict – is listed as number 11.

Time magazine has yet to investigate any possible reasons for the results, but many are calling it coincidence, conspiracy or children of the chan.

One of the candidates is E.L. James, author of the ridiculously over hyped piece of shit known as 50 Shades of Grey, as well as Hilary Clinton and Mohamed Morsi. Then again, it could be worse so kudos to Time for not including Amanda Todd or something.

It’s a people’s choice which means that a tyrant has just as good of a chance than a conqueror but it would be nice to see how this actually plays out.

As the year slowly comes to a close (even though some will argue that the word “year” needs to be replaced with “life on Earth”), Google has released what it calls “Zeitgeist 2012” – a list of what the world was looking up this year and the news reports that interested the global internet users.

From SOPA, Assange, Pussy Riot and Celebrity Deaths all the way to the London Olympics and the death of Amanda Todd (the first teenager in the history of the world to commit suicide) – the report shows a battle of rights, freedom, democracy struggles and entertainment.

Surprisingly the report doesn’t exactly show much interest for Syria and various other conflicts around the world, but perhaps the internet are bored of the constant fighting over politics, religion and supremacy?

The 125 page report, including searches and trends by country, can be downloaded here.

Software guru John McAfee, who is fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to hospital in Guatemala this morning. Suspicions were that McAfee had a heart attack.

Mr McAfee was carried out on a stretcher from an immigration service cottage where he was detained after crossing illegally into Guatemala from neighbouring Belize.

Guatemala foreign minister Harold Caballeros said Mr McAfee’s request for asylum had been rejected.

After being hurried to a hospital in an ambulance, the 67-year-old was later snuck out of the building out of sight of reporters and into a police patrol car.

His lawyer Telesforo Guerra has toned-down the claims that he had a heart attack, citing that it was more a case of irregular heartbeat.

“He never had a heart attack. Nothing like that,” I’m not a doctor. I’m just telling you what the doctors told me.

He was suffering from stress, hypertension and tachycardia (an abnormally rapid heartbeat).”

Is Intel planning on killing the user-customisable motherboard? With the announcement of the Intel “Broadwell”, one could predict that the answer is yes.

According to allegedly leaked information regarding the 14nm Broadwell CPU; the future of Intel processors will no longer be on an independent scale, with processors already mounted using BGA – effectively, the CPUs would be soldered into the motherboard.

Whilst chances are a damaged CPU will also damage the motherboard, the variations consumers have when it comes to CPU/Motherboard purchases is a very serious preference and one that should always be taken into account if you plan on upgrading the CPU or Motherboard within the future. Many people realise their CPU is brilliant but there motherboard is bottlenecking the computer and so they opt for another board – something that may become a thing of the past.

Intel have already begun rolling out the Next Unit of Computing (NUC) barebones kits with permanently integrated processors and if they really are planning on limiting the desktop market with non-user-customisable MB/CPU configurations then it will be interesting to see if AMD follows suit. Would this essentially end the CPU socket?

Just months after NASA successfully landed the Mars Rover Curiosity, space Transportation Company SpaceX founder Elon Musk has come out with his idea to build a colony on Mars that would hold up to 80,000 willing residents.

Musk – who oversaw the first modern construction of the electric car and co-founded PayPal – claims to be “discussing plans” to transport humans to Mars, claiming to ferry 10 people at a time for the measly cost of $US500,000 per passenger even though there is no way to for the Red Planet to support human life at this time.

As well as spending your millions of dollars on moving into a gigantic chamber on the dusty planet, you’d also have to remember that 1 Mars year is almost 2 Earth years (or, if you really must know, 0.19 dog years.)

In other Space-related news, NASA has confirmed that the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (pictured) to the International Space Station will be postponed from January until March 1^st

Elon Musk claims he can ‘have it done’ by 2029 and that the colony would be roughly the size of Phuket. So if we decide to invest in the gigantic greenhouse then hopefully we’ll have some internet for the announcement of “WordswithMeaning! Mars Edition”

In all seriousness though, before we put humans on the planet, can we put some servers up there and some satellites to bounce Wi-Fi off of? This really would help with piracy and cloud storage. Hmm…then again, the US probably had dibs on Mars first and will forever claim ownership.

What are the safest domain names to register? Where should I choose a web host? What country is the best for serving a service that won’t ban me? How can I avoid website or domain seizure?  — We’ll cover it here!

Governments and [physical] online policy groups have adopted procedures of seizing domain names as a way to shut down content they find objectionable.

If you or your web hosting company isn’t complying with the objection in a timely manner, they cut to the chase and pull your web domain down as an effort to silence you.

This has recently become a crucial suppression tactic utilised by the United States government (through the Secret Service, Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, DHS, and the Department of Justice, via the FBI and the DEA)

The effects of worldwide monopolisation and capitalism is seeing many startup companies that are attempting to become the next big Facebook, YouTube or something totally unique, fall to the disproportionate requirements of copyright holders and government agencies.

We’ve milked the story about how the US took WordswithMeaning! down far too many times – so we aren’t going to go into that – but we’re going to give you a rundown of the safest places to host your content and which domain registrars to use. Furthermore we will give you our criticisms of the companies worth avoiding (and boycotting) during your endeavour. Whether it’s user-generated content, torrents, file sharing or pornography – we’ve got the suggestions you may need.

COMPANIES TO STEER CLEAR OF:

First let’s mention that VeriSign and the domain administration company Afilias are suspiciously behind many of the websites that have been shut down on the domain-end of the web.

Although we have yet to experience problems with our .org domains (due to the content not being too bad perhaps?) we have heard multiple cases of pornographic websites and whistleblowing/hacktivism sites being taken down by Afilias-administered domain TLD’s.

For the love of God/Allah/ Muhammad/Dawkins/Faith-figure of choice do NOT register with GoDaddy – not only do they flip-flop after years of supporting net censorship and anti-piracy regulations, but they have a terrible control panel interface and are a very over-rated company.

It’s also worth noting that GoDaddy bought out “NoDaddy”; a website that explicitly criticised GoDaddy’s work ethics, support for SOPA and general customer service issues. Every time you looked up “Go Daddy” on Google, you’d get hesitant reminders of why you should avoid them – and clearly they didn’t like that. To top off the bullshit; GoDaddy was taken down by Anonymous for 6 hours and yet the website admins stood by their far-fetched “99.999% uptime.” claims, which Wikipedia states flawlessly: “disputable as the nearly 6-hour downtime would suggest that GoDaddy had been in operation for approximately 70 years when the statement was released.”

If you’re planning on hosting something that will piss of many companies and break supposed laws, then it’d be best to avoid these:

• · .com
• · .net
• · .name
• · .gov
• · .cc
• · .tv
• · .info
• · .mobi
• · .org
• · .asia
• · .aero
• · .ag
• · .bz,
• · .gi,
• · .hn
• · .in
• · .lc
• · .me
• · .mn
• · .sc
• · .vc.

Political Locations to Avoid:

Small countries.

Nations with military communal defence covenants (NATO, the UN etc.).

Countries known for any forms of corruption or obligation. (a country that may accept a bribe to shut websites down for instance)

Members of the ECHELON signal interception/monitoring pact (The United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, The United Kingdom and Canada).

WORDSWITHMEANING.ORG ‘SAFE’ DOMAIN RECOMMENDATIONS:

Switzerland: .ch

Switzerland is arguably one of the world’s neutralist countries.

Sites such as Wikileaks and Encyclopedia Dramatica use the .ch for backups and mirror lists.

Norway: .no

Norwegians have the coolest domain ever! The simple response to the question “Can I trust the CIA with my tinfoil hat?” is .no – sadly however, if you’re not a Norwegian business owner then you may have to ask very nicely to gain access and register the .no domain.

Sweden: .se

When it comes to the Swedish political system, there is certainly a list of traits that put them on our side and a list that puts them up there with the UK and US when it comes to freedom and democracy. WordMean is currently hosted in Sweden and we’ve yet to have troubles with any political objections. In fact, when the US told us to cease hosting our website there, we inquired about servers in Sweden in which we managed a contract claiming that they would not allow investigations into the website, owners and physical data centres without strict warrants from the Swedish government – which doesn’t seem too likely with our line of content.

United Arab Emerates: .ae

If you’re interested in hosting or registering a domain within the Middle-East and surroundings then the UAE is by far the best bet. Not conferring to the Western pressures and sharing no interest in copyright laws, the .ae domain is usually a good selection for many. The UAE usually has a fair response to press freedom too.

Who you register your domain name with also matters – and if you’re going for SSL certificates then remember the previously advised VeriSign boycott –

The right for a physically (and/or) mentally ill person to choose death is one that has caused debate for decades.

Whether you call it assisted euthanasia, suicide or murder; one thing remains crucial – the person wants to die.

Dignitas – which is the Assisted Dying Organisation – in Zürich, Switzerland is the most notable organisation in the world for the controversial decision to end one’s life.

In 2009, legendary British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic under circumstances of their own choosing. Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer. Together, they decided they did not want to live without each other, a motion that could easily be today’s Romeo & Juliet tale.

Although Sir Edward Downes wasn’t entirely unhealthy for his age – he experienced the common symptoms of aging including the deterioration of his hearing – he knew he had lived a good life and wanted to exit it with his wife with whom he was married to for nearly 55 years.

Euthanasia due to severe illness is one aspect of the debate – but voluntary suicide for those who have no desire to live any longer is another.

Suicide – in all fairness – requires courage, determination and the understanding that you can’t change your mind once you’ve started the process of ending your life. There are various means that should be encouraged and required if depression is the factor for wishing to end your life – but once you’re dead, that is it. If somebody is determined enough to enter a facility and state “Yes, in a month’s time I will return and say goodbye to my life” then you cannot stop them. Is there anything morally wrong with assisting somebody with taking their life in a professional manner? After all, they are going to take it whether in a professional environment or not.

Could it be easier to allow someone to die quickly and safely rather than wait for them to resort to drugs or alcohol that will damage their body AND THEN end their life? By this, I am stating that a suicidal patient should be given the right to donate his organs and finish his life. This way, the illegal trade of organs could be softened. If you can sell somebody’s heart for a few grand in some countries, why not ‘trade in’ your heart for a free consultation and the procedure that will disconnect you from existence.

Iconic author Sir Terry Pratchett once made an emotional plea for the right to take his own life, stating: “I live in hope I can jump before I am pushed.”

Sir Terry was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007. Speaking out for the right-to-die campaigners he exclaimed that no one has a duty to suffer the extremes of terminal illness.

What are your thoughts?

The UK court of appeal has scolded Apple over the phrasing of the statement on its website acknowledging that Samsung did not infringe the iPad tablet’s registered design.

The salutation to Samsung was put up during the last week of October and was visible on the Apple homepage in a quiet footer link. The Court has claimed that this link is “non-compliant” with the order that was made.

Apple were ordered to put the statement on the homepage rather than utilising a small link to direct visitors their.

The court has now ordered Apple to correct the statement within the next 48 hours. The statement currently closes with

“However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.”

Another crucial factor in the court’s contempt is that Apple was ordered to explicitly acknowledge that its rival, Samsung, did not copy the iPad’s design.

Though Apple did do that, it also added in details from other court cases in the US relating to other non-design patents to suggest that other courts had found against Samsung.

Apple has correspondingly been told it must take out adverts with the same statements in the Financial Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, T3 magazine and Mobile magazine. None of these advertisements have been registered or printed as of the time this article was published.

The statement has been labelled as “distorting the reality of the case” since Apple has not disclosed any of the court decisions that didn’t rule in their favour.

The ‘Real’ Adult Entertainment Industry | Part I: The Couples Interview with Damon and Veruca James.

In this new series of in-depth articles, we dive into the porn industry and what really happens and how a pornstar couple can manage to survive a relationship. My aim is to visit every side of the porn industry. I will be conducting interviews with current pornstars, ex-pornstars and people who are against the industry. Every opinion will be given and then you can decide for yourself what life is like in the ‘real’ adult entertainment industry.

Recently, I’ve been in contact with Damon and Veruca James, a couple who have starred in multiple pornographic films together and have maintained a professional manner and managed to keep their relationship intact; an achievement that many of we non-pornstar outsiders would find existentially hard to fathom.

I’ll add here that after interviewing dozens of subjects in my journalistic career, Veruca and Damon James were surprisingly the most courteous and down-to-earth people I have ever had the pleasure of cross-examining and so in advance, I would like to publicly thank them for their involvement and for the time they set aside to make the publishing of this article possible.

–

WORDMEAN: So Damon, how did you meet Veruca and were you two were already involved in the porn industry?

DAMON: I met Veruca in Chicago one night in a bar. We were both casually dating other people when we met but quickly got rid of them and started dating. Veruca had not shot any scenes yet. She was working for a major accounting firm. I was bartending and doing promotions for Burning Angel. My links to the industry were through throwing weekly Burning Angel events and hanging out with the girls.

Editor’s note: Burning Angel is a popular adult website.

WORDMEAN: Have you ever reached a moment where you question what life with your partner would be like after you’ve both chosen to retire from the industry?

DAMON:We think about it all the time. We can’t do this forever and that was one of the reasons we decided to take the plunge in the first place. We’re both pretty ambitious and driven so the idea of what life would be like after we get out is completely uncertain. We have a lot of options already. Neither one of us started doing this because we were young and had nothing better to do. We’re a bit older and we’re exhibitionists. We could walk away at any time and be fine but we’re too busy having fun.

WORDMEAN: Do you (or have you) ever feared for the safety of yourself or Veruca during your time as professionals?

 DAMON:Never. Working on sets is so professional. Honestly, it’s not even very sexual. Shooting usually takes the entire day and everyone on set is extremely friendly. I’m sure there are some sketchy porn people out there but we’ve had the opportunity to work for major companies and it’s a very safe environment.

VERUCA:I haven’t either. I’ve only worked for well-established professional companies, so I haven’t been exposed to some of the shady business that I’ve heard other girls go through. Also, when I chose my agent I knew that we shared the expectations for professionalism, which was important to me.  As far as me, as a professional, in my personal life, Damon is always with me and he’s obviously a huge creep deterrent.  When it comes to STDs or other physical ailments, I have resigned to the fact that certain things just come with the job and anything serious is addressed with testing protocols and common sense.

WORDMEAN:   Would you consider any part of your life as “private” from the outside world? For instance, you two are both very open about the photographs and artistic angle of pornography but do you ever feel that sometimes there are parts of your relationship that the public or fans should keep out of?

 DAMON:If you see us in public don’t be a douchebag. That’s all. Occasionally people recognize us and they buy us a shot or want a picture with Veruca but everyone’s pretty nice. I think being covered in tattoos is a pretty big deterrent for most people to act up around me.

VERUCA:I actually have a very private side to me which mainly pertains to my life before I entered the industry. I’m very honest about my career before I entered the industry because I’m very proud of my accomplishments, but at the same time I don’t think porn fans should pry into that life or dig for facts that I did not wilfully offer up.  People need to remember that before I entered into the industry I was not “Veruca James” and while “Veruca James” is on public display, me as a non-performer is not.  And that is not just out of a desire to keep my personal life private, it is also out of respect for everyone (people and companies) that I was acquainted with before I became a performer. My and Damon’s relationship over time has evolved into a very public relationship, and doesn’t just apply to our non-performer life.  Damon and I are in a serious relationship in our personal and professional lives, which we are both very happy with; I don’t hide the fact that I have a very serious boyfriend from my fans and I expect that they know and respect that. That’s just me though; I know lots of performers who like to keep their personal relationships separate from their performer persona in order to keep the “fantasy” alive for the fans.

WORDMEAN: Is “sex just sex” when it comes to your personal sexual relationship versus your professional sex career?

DAMON:The sex that we have while no one is watching is the most intense sex I have ever had. Besides an unexplainable emotional connection I felt with her when I met her there was also a connection on a primal level. Her touch, her taste, her smell all had me hooked. So when we have sex it’s extremely passionate and personal. Whether it’s laying on our side having sweet passionate sex or grabbing her by her throat and trying to perforate her organs with my dick so that no life will ever be able to inhabit her insides. You can’t just “make” that with anyone else.

VERUCA:  I completely agree with Damon’s response.  I think at this point it’s impossible to have “just sex” with Damon.  That doesn’t mean we only have lovey dovey passionate sex, it just means that our sexual energy for each other is derived from something subconscious that makes it impossible to separate the sex from the person.  Damon gets to have “real” sex with me.  Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy sex as a performer, nor does it mean Damon doesn’t get the same energy and sluttiness that I bring to my performances.  It just simply means that Damon gets a variety of types of sex with me.  He gets the passionate love making, lazy hungover sex, quickies in our friends’ bathrooms or in the car, as well as the performance style sex. Also, because of our personal connection, it naturally translates to our professional sex. We genuinely love being watched and watching ourselves, so when you see us have professional sex; it’s not just a performance.  Ideally we would like to enjoy professional sex with other people together.

WORDMEAN:  Do you take precautionary measures so that you and Veruca don’t contract any sexual infections and do you work within an environment with any strict health regulations involved?

DAMON:  Absolutely! We are very strict about whom we have sex with in our personal life; we don’t just have sex with any random person.  We want to be confident that the person tests regularly for STIs and has the same expectations for other people they have sex with.  As professionals we are required to test for STIs anywhere from every 14-28 days, depending on the company. As long as performers are honest and lead safe and responsible lifestyles outside of porn there is rarely an incident. There is also a database APHSS that keeps performers testing records. That way a producer or director can check to see if the performer has a valid test. STI’s of course can happen but it’s actually fairly uncommon. Most sets are sterilized and there’s always baby wipes, towels, purell etc. on hand.

WORDMEAN:    In a completely different subject; what are your feelings towards online piracy and copyright infringement. Do you believe that there have been any significant consequences to the pornography business due to this? Likewise, what is your attitude towards internet censorship and the countries that have (or are preparing to) deem pornography unsuitable for the internet?

 DAMON:I have mixed views on this one. The porn industry is definitely taking a hit because of online piracy. I think that people just need to adapt and evolve if they want to keep up in an ever changing technology driven market.

Without even going into a tirade I am against ALL censorship.

WORDMEAN: And finally, is there anything you would like to specify to the ‘outside’ world regarding who the real Veruca and Damon James are as individuals outside of the porn industry and what your “secret” is to having an openly sexual relationship whether it be professional or otherwise? And what would you like to say to the critics or the “ex-porn stars” that are against what you two do.

DAMON:I am an open book. I let just about anyone in on my online persona but there is an entire different world that they don’t see. It’s a world that I like to keep safe and protected and only my closest friends get to see it. It can be a balancing act sometimes being Damon the loving boyfriend and the Damon that people know from our online lives.

The secret with having an open sexual relationship such as ours comes down to honesty and communication. We don’t hold anything back from each other. We set up boundaries that we both agree upon as far as what is deemed acceptable and we try it out. It’s not always easy, it doesn’t always work. It takes a lot of time and a lot of trust. As long as we communicate our feelings no matter how big or small we’ve found a way for it to work.

As far as critics or ex porn stars who criticize us they can go fuck themselves. If I was the type of person who worried about what everyone thought about me I’d be a mental wreck and I’d never leave the house.

VERUCA:Honestly, while there is a private side to “Veruca and Damon” that only our friends’ see, it’s really not different than what you see publicly.  It’s just more honest regarding how we feel as people. A lot of people assume that we “swing” or are “open,” but I find that most people’s definition of these relationships don’t fit ours.  Damon and I do not have sex with other people outside of our relationship, except professionally.  And we don’t have sex with strangers in our personal life, if we invite someone to have sex with us, it’s because we actually know them.  Damon and I have spent our entire relationship communicating and evolving with regards to boundaries. We are brutally honest with each other and completely respectful of the agreed upon boundaries. But, just like “normal” couples, we deal with jealously, being “open” doesn’t mean you don’t feel jealous, it just means that you trust that “sex is just sex” and you learn to turn that jealousy into a stronger desire and passion for each other. Personally, I’ve learned that it’s better to have my feelings hurt with the truth than my trust broken with lies. There’s no point to lie or cheat in our relationship, because we can just tell each other what we want.  Our only rules are don’t lie and don’t disrespect the relationship.  I’ve never actually heard of anyone criticizing us or relationship and if someone did, they would most likely be judging based on an inaccurate assumption about us.

And so there we have it. I have to admit I could never truly understand how it works but these two are an inspiration to those who say that a healthy relationship combined with the adult industry is impossible. The truth is, I am not a porn star and so of course I don’t quite “get it” but I would again like to encourage the readers to discuss the interview (healthily) and I will throw a shout-out to Damon James who is also a very talented photographer. You can view his website and portfolio at http://damonjamesphoto.com/

As of writing this, Catarina is supposedly worth $255,000 USD with Alex at $1300 (perhaps proof that female virgins are worth more to prospective bidders?)

Bidding closes on the 14th of October, 2012

Whilst guidelines are safely in place – with the requirement that the winning bidder provides both medical and police checks – the morals of selling ones virginity for the sake of a documentary has been disputed. According to the terms: oral sex and anything the participant doesn’t want to do is prohibited, with security waiting outside.

Both Catarina and Alexander would receive 100% of all proceeds and once their “contract” is completed (a minimum of one hour is apparently a condition), they are free to do as they wish with the money made.

The moving force behind this is for a documentary project called “Virgins Wanted” by Australian director, Justin Sisely, who first revealed plans for the controversial documentary in 2009, however, he later planned to take the auction overseas to avoid potential prostitution charges in Australia.

Catarina has stated that she “is fully supported by her family” and that

“Many people meet unknown people in bars, have sex on the same night and forget about them the next day; others lose their virginity with boyfriends but then after that things change.” “For me, the most important is to not to harm anyone,”

The winning bidders will apparently be checked out for STDs, must use a condom, and it will take place aboard a private flight from Australia to the United States, which apparently avoids the prostitution laws.

The website’s terms and conditions (available here) do not state whether or not the offer is open to someone of the same sex.

According to the website, a “certificate of consummation” is awarded after intercourse has taken place.

So what do you think about this? People have the right to choose what they do with their bodies but is there something you think specifically makes this perfectly normal/disastrously wrong?

Let us know by commenting below:

Laminar Research, the legendary company behind realistic flight simulation tool X-Plane, as well as Electronic Arts and Square Enix are being sued by Australian company Uniloc in a spit of new patent trolling by the infamously court-hungry corporation.

Uniloc has claimed a patent breach of the vague licensing system that requires communication with a server to perform a check to prevent the unauthorized use of applications.

Download the patents and court documents here.

Whilst many folks are pro-piracy (including ourselves), Laminar Research’s X-Plane is a brilliant simulation tool that costs roughly $69, most of which would cover the huge stack of discs and mapping content provided with the simulator.

Uniloc is seeking damages and ongoing royalties from the developers of 9 companies.

Prior to this action, Uniloc has notoriously filed patent infringement suits against Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec in the past, demanding big cash and priding themselves on suing the companies surrounding them.

Whilst Laminar Research isn’t exactly a not-for-profit company, they are relatively small in comparison to the other companies being sued by Uniloc. Their research and dedication into flight simulation and pilot training has been widely praised by professionals, enthusiasts and gamers who just wanted to pretend to fly a plane into a river for fun.

You can contribute to their legal costs here and please do comment with your thoughts and support for Laminar’s Austin Meyer who released this statement:

I am told that it will cost me about $1,500,000 (one and a half MILLION dollars) to defend this suit.

He also told me that it should take about two to three years to defend.

This is more money than I have made selling Android Apps in the first place.

Under these conditions, does it make sense for me to be in business?

Does it make sense for me to make a cool little App like X-Plane for Android and release it?

Does it make sense for me to do business in the United Sates, where frivolous lawsuits (unlike in other nations) go un-punished?

Uniloc demands in its suit that I pay them “on-going, post-judgement royalty”, though I promise that they have never written a single line X-Plane source code.

They have written NONE of X-Plane, yet they claim that I owe them “on-going, post-judgement royalty”.

What ELSE could I do with $1,500,000 and 3 years?

Recent projects that have cost me similar time and money have been the Meyer/Finlay Pet adoption center (which is getting hundreds, and soon thousands, of animals from the pound adopted) and development of the Vertical Power VP-400 (which is a display for real airplanes that shows the pilot how he can glide to a safe landing after the engine quits).

Future projects I hope to undertake include a high-efficiency rotary engine prototype for experimental aircraft use, an endowment scholarship to my high school, and another pet adoption centre.

Which of the projects above shall I shelve to pay my defence fees instead?

How much TIME is being taken away from improving X-Plane to spend on this lawsuit? How many features and improvements will X-Plane NOT get because of this?

What impact is the STRESS of this lawsuit going to have on me? How will that translate into development of X-Plane for my customers?

I and my wife have a single daughter, and would like a second child, but my wife will not get pregnant while under the threat of losing everything we have to a lawsuit from a company that has contributed nothing to us.