A Strange µTorrent Support Question

I've been doing support for the µTorrent client, in their IRC channel, for a few years now. I don't get paid, and I don't have any official position, but I've been doing it a while, and I know my way around things.

Today, I had perhaps one of the most bizzare support questions ever.

[16:48.00] * BB_ ([email protected]) has joined #utorrent

[16:48.30] <BB_> Is something wrong with utorrent. Every time I search I am coming up with no searches.

3 Strikes for Corruption?

Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill has in it the proposal to terminate the internet connections of people repeatedly accused of copyright infringement. It's claims that because this is such a big loss maker, and so time consuming and costly to enforce, justice should be circumvented and punishment be made to deter the actions from being committed.

There is, however, a bigger crime out there, that is harder to prove, and more costly to the country as a whole. It's name? CORRUPTION

BIS Discriminates Against the Disabled

Today, we had the release of the Digital Economy Bill, which is basically a way of taking the Digital world, and forcing it to try and confirm to the 'Old Economy'.

There is one sure sign though, that this is because they don't understand technology. Are you ready? It's the pdfs of the consultation responses.

The Times Backs Me Up

Wow, mainstream media, or more specifically The Times, did you happen to read my consultation response to the UK Government? I did point out in it how much of an increase in sales there has been since P2P came about (pages 10 and 11), with a roughly 25% gain in both album and singles sales in 2008 compared with 1997.

Pirate Party Gets Second MEP

Yes, you read that right. Today saw the final ratification in the Czech Republic for the Lisbon treaty. It came after the Czech Constitutional Court ruled that it was in accordance with their laws. This was the final step needed, and now all 27 countries have ratified it. So, as of December 1st (the first of the month after the final ratification), it becomes law.

For the Pirate Party, this is a good thing. It means that the number of MEPs Sweden can send is increased from 18 to 20, and one of the recipients is the Piratpartiet, in the shape of Amelia Andersdotter.

ACTA Must be Public!

Many of you will have heard about ACTA. For those that haven't, ACTA (or in long form the “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement”) is an agreement between countries that purports to reduce counterfeiting to benefit the consumer. What it actually will do, we don't know. See, the treaty hasn't been made public. In two years of negotiations, it's been kept quiet.

The Truth in Reporting

There's a big brouhaha going on right now about conflicts between The White House, and the Fox News Channel (FNC). The spat is because the White House feels Fox news is overly biased towards the Republican party, while Fox news points out that the segments the White House points to are Opinion shows, not News.

Auto-repair Safety Warning!

I'm an engineer by training. I also grew up with a father who was an engineer, and did his own car work when possible, so I always do my own car work when possible. In the past three years I've rebuilt heads, replaced valves, drive-shafts, and bodywork. Car repairs can be dangerous though, even with simple jobs, and every now and then, That danger aspect needs to be reinforced.