Category Archives: Featured

SOPA/PIP Follow up

Posted on by

<Man clicks on a bookmark>

Oh damn it, that site is broken its just a black screen

<man tries another link>

—000—

Incase you were asleep all day yesterday toy may have missed that a number of websites were “blacked out” in protest of SOPA/PIP if you’re not sure what I am talking about go here

well this morning I received an e-mail from fight for the future who are one of the leading drivers behind this campaign.

I thought I would share the e-mail with you this morning.

Today was nuts, right?

Google launched a petition.  Wikipedia voted to shut itself off.  Senators’ websites went down just from the sheer surge of voters trying to write them.   NYC and SF geeks had protests that packed city blocks.

You made history today: nothing like this has ever happened before.  Tech companies and users teamed up.  Tens of millions of people who make the internet what it is joined together to defend their freedoms.  The free network defended itself.  Whatever you call it, the bottom line is clear: from today forward, it will be much harder to mess up the internet.

The really crazy part?  We might even win.

Approaching Monday’s crucial Senate vote there are now 35 Senators publicly opposing PIPA.  Last week there were 5.   And it just takes just 41 solid “no” votes to permanently stall PIPA (and SOPA) in the Senate.  What seemed like miles away a few weeks ago is now within reach.

But don’t trust predictions.  The forces behind SOPA & PIPA (mostly movie companies) can make small changes to these bills until they know they have the votes to pass.  Members of Congress know SOPA & PIPA are unpopular, but they don’t understand why–so they’re easily duped by superficial changes.  The Senate returns next week, and the next few days are critical.  Here are two things to think about:

1. Plan on calling your Senator every day next week.  Pick up the phone each morning and call your Senators’ offices, until they vote “no” on cloture.  If your site participated today, consider running a “Call the Senate” link all next week.

2. Tomorrow, drop in at your Senators’ district offices.  We don’t have a cool map widget to show you the offices nearest you (we’re too exhausted! any takers?).  So do it the old fashioned way: use Google, or the phonebook to find the address, and just walk in, say you oppose PIPA, and urge the Senator to vote “no” on cloture.  These drop-in visits make our spectacular online protests more tangible and credible.

That’s it for now. Be proud and stay on it!

–Holmes, Tiffiniy, and the whole Fight for the Future team.

___

P.S. Huge credit goes to participants in the 11/16 American Censorship Day protest: Mozilla, 4chan, BoingBoing, Tumblr, TGWTG, and thousands of others.  That’s what got this ball rolling!  Reddit, both the community and the team behind it, you’re amazing.  And of course, thanks to the Wikimedians whose patient and inexorable pursuit of the right answer brought them to take world-changing action. Thanks to David S, David K, Cory D, and E Stark for bold action at critical times.

P.P.S. If you haven’t already, show this video to as many people as you can. It works! http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

We keep our fingers crossed that the work they have done will help stop this bill.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

TTFN

Kiff

©ChrisMeadows2012
Hello Reader – Are you new to Jabbering All Day Long can I suggest that you check out our Starter for Ten Page which will hopefully give you a guide  as you take your first couple of footsteps around this site.

SOPA/PIP

Posted on by

Hello all

Right now a number of websites like WordPress.org and Wikipedia are blacked out in protest of the SOPA/PIP bill that is being put into congress.

You may have heard people talking/blogging/twittering about SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act. The recent SOPA-related boycott of GoDaddy was all over the news, with many people expressing their outrage over the possibilities of SOPA, but when I ask people about SOPA and its sister bill in the Senate, PIPA (Protect IP Act), many don’t really know what the bills propose, or what we stand to lose. If you are not freaked out by SOPA/PIPA, please: for the next four minutes, instead of checking Facebook statuses, seeing who mentioned you on Twitter, or watching the latest episode of Sherlock*, watch this video (by Fight for the Future).

Here is a video that explains it a little more.

http://vimeo.com/31100268

If you want to get involved I would suggest going to www.wordpress.org there have lots of links to petitions for congress etc

 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

TTFN

Kiff

©ChrisMeadows2012
Hello Reader – Are you new to Jabbering All Day Long can I suggest that you check out our Starter for Ten Page which will hopefully give you a guide  as you take your first couple of footsteps around this site.

Right Royal Flexible Volunteering

Posted on by

<Man thumbs through a copy of Hello Magazine>

By Jove I have got it if we use a Royal that will show that anyone can be a leader

<Smiles to himself>

You will hopefully be aware of yesterday Big News from the Scout Association, if you not then HRH The Duchess of Cambridge is to join the Scout Association as a Volunteer,

The Scout Association says

 The announcement comes as a great endorsement of Scouting’s commitment to allow adults to volunteer their time on a flexible basis. The Duchess will help run a variety of activities relevant to her skills and interests. This could include running games, teaching first aid or cooking on campfires.

So what are my thoughts on this news, well I am torn

On one hand this is a very positive story about a high profile member of the royal family showing support for the Scout Association, while also giving a big boost to flexible volunteering and showing that if she can give some time to fit scouting in to her busy lifestyle then anyone can.

However on the other hand I have some concerns.

Scouting is often looked at as a social leveller, it was part of what BP did by taking boys from both classes to Brownsea island. As such what then happens to royal protocol – do her fellow leaders call her Kate or maybe she will take a name like Squirrel (for beavers) or Winifred for cubs (Winifred is Colonel Hathi’s wife, after all William is a colonel in the Irish Guards) or as protocol decrees is it Your Royal Highness followed by Ma’am?

My second thought is to the pack – the disruption that is likely to be caused that first time she arrives with the press clambering to get photos, that is not going to be easy; when Prince Andrew joined Cubs they moved the meetings into the Grounds of Buckingham Palase which allowed it some resemblance of normality

Finally though what’s going to happen if the press get a photo of The Duchess helping out little Jonny or Jenny and the pack does not have a signed form allowing the use of photos or maybe the parent has decide they don’t want photos of the child used and has informed the group. Are the pressgoing to check with the group before publishing every photo? They are not known for their consideration on these matters.

To wrap up

My concerns are, I will admit, very minor and on the whole it is very positive having some one like the Dutchess of Cambridge being part of the Scout Association in any form.  I also feel that the felxible voloutering which the Scout Association offers is  a great way for people to support the movement with as much or a little time as they have.

I hope that the group where she volunteers will be given the support throughout the full three years (if that is what she is doing) of Her Royal Highnesses appointment not just while there is a lot of media hype.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

TTFN

Kiff

©ChrisMeadows2012
Hello Reader – Are you new to Jabbering All Day Long can I suggest that you check out our Starter for Ten Page which will hopefully give you a guide  as you take your first couple of footsteps around this site.

Around the Web on New Years Day

Posted on by

Hello all

I have seen some very interesting New Year Messages come out in the last couple of days so I thought I would share them all with you.

Dan’s Blog - Amidst the bustle of festive cheer, I found several moments this Christmas to quietly ponder the future.  Something about this time of year heightens our sense of the preciousness of time.  Approaching the New Year, the memories of this one are concertinaed so the best and worst bits stand out more prominently.  The meaning of those individual experiences and their sum are also somehow sharper in retrospect.  For me, this time of year sensitizes the subtler emotions and sensations and I feel especially self aware.  In these moments we can grow the most because we see ourselves from another perspective.  It is perhaps why we can so relate to the Ghosts of Christmas conjured by Dickens in his novel “A Christmas Carol”.  The possibilities of the future are more obvious and real when imagined alongside the lessons of our past and present. 

—000—

Bobwhite Blather - As the calendar clicks over another year, many of us take time to look back at where we’ve been in the last twelve months and look ahead to the next twelve. It’s also a good time to assess what your troop or pack has accomplished, how it’s benefited the boys in your unit, and what changes you can make or actions you can take to improve things.

—000—

2.33 Gallons - I sit here, on my couch, thinking about what 2011 has meant to me. Most years come and go and I struggle to remember what happened other than the occasional big event. 2011 seemed different. I went into this year with the mindset that I was going to take everything I could from the time I had, I was going to do things different, I was going to do things better. Looking back at it, I feel pretty good about what I’ve done.

—000—

Scouter Adam’s Blog - There is a lot of Scouters within the Facebook, Twitterverse & G+ world asking about goals and what was 2011 like.  I love reading them.  I hope that all their plans and wishes come to being and they feel a sense of accomplishment.  The Internet is a wonderful place. I have met a lot of like minded people whom I would love to share a campfire and coffee with hopefuly soon.

—000—

All the above posts has messages that resonated with me and hopefully with you too.

Welcome to 2012 I hope this will be a great scouting year

Enhanced by Zemanta

TTFN

Kiff

©ChrisMeadows2012
Hello Reader – Are you new to Jabbering All Day Long can I suggest that you check out our Starter for Ten Page which will hopefully give you a guide  as you take your first couple of footsteps around this site.

Picture Thursday 27_10_11

Posted on by

<He trudges up the road, brcced against the wind>

I walk this path so often I could do it blindfold

<Closes his eyes and walks on>

 

20111028-070127.jpg

This is the construction road from my site office to the site. I walk this road a minimum of 8 time a day and a maximum of who knows.

TTFN

K

After Note: Sorry this is a bit late, I have been ever so busy, took it last week and set everythin up to send out on the 27th but I completly forgot to press publish