Friday, 24 June 2011

SBTRKT - Wildfire

PythonJones Terry Jones

So this is Twitter is it? They had something in the Middle Ages like this called 'writing things on a bit of paper and passing it around'.

Australia Heads Down the Slippery Slope, Authorizes ISPs to Filter

Starting next month, the vast majority of Australia’s Internet users will find their access censored, following a decision by the country’s two largest providers--Telstra and Optus--as well as two smaller ISPs (itExtreme and Webshield), to voluntarily block more than 500 websites from view.
The decision from the two ISPs comes after numerous failed attempts by the Australian government to set up a centralized filtering plan.
In the new voluntary scheme, ISPs will block sites containing “the appropriate subsection of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) blacklist as well as child abuse URLs that are provided by reputable international organisations,” according to News.com.au.
The problem with such a plan is multi-layered: First, there is no transparency in the selection of URLs to be blacklisted, and no accountability from the regulatory bodies creating the blacklists. The “reputable international organizations” providing child abuse URLs have not been named, but may include the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based organization that in 2008 advised UK ISPs to block a Wikipedia page containing an album cover from the 1970s that they deemed might be illegal.
The ACMA itself has run into problems with its blacklist as well. After Wikileaks published the regulator’s blacklist in 2009, it was discovered that the list contained the website of a Queensland-based dentist, as well as numerous other sites unrelated to child sexual abuse or illegal pornography.
Second, filtering does little to curb the trade of child pornography, much of which is traded across peer to peer networks and VPNs. Filtering it from the world wide web may simply push it further underground.
Third, there appears to be no appeals process in the Australian ISPs’ scheme, thereby making it difficult for sites erroneously caught up in the filter to challenge the block.
Lastly, the introduction of a filter sets precedent for the ISPs to filter more sites in the future at the behest of the ACMA. If the ACMA were to make the decision that sites deemed "indecent" or politically controversial--for example--should be off-limits, would the ISPs comply?
Jillian York @'EFF'

Bicycle Rush Hour in Utrecht (For son#1!)

Getting closer?

Vancouver kiss couple: video shows police charge

Fresh video footage appearing to show Vancouver's famous riot couple seems to end speculation that the picture was faked, and indicates that sympathy more than passion was the motivation behind the kiss that was captured on camera.
The footage, uploaded to YouTube, seems to show Australian Scott Jones comforting his girlfriend, Alex Thomas, after she was knocked to the ground by an officer's riot shield.
The photo of the couple, taken by photographer Richard Lam, became a global sensation and was taken as Lam was documenting the riot that began after the hometown Canucks lost ice hockey's Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. The picture became an internet sensation and fuelled speculation that the embrace was staged.
The video shows the crowd retreating as the couple find themselves caught in the path of two riot police. Both officers collide with the pair with their shields, knocking them to the ground. The couple appear to be holding up their arms up in defence. The camera moves on, returning to show the man comforting the distraught woman.
Jones and Thomas have been inundated with offers to describe the events surrounding the famous kiss and had said they did not want the "extra stress" of media appointments. But they are now believed to have hired celebrity publicist Markson Sparks PR.
Jones is an aspiring comedian. "I think for Scott, it's a tremendous opportunity for him to springboard his acting and standup comedy," Markson told the Toronto Star. "Overseas people know more about that photo than the Stanley Cup." He said the couple's global exposure could be worth a potential $10m.
Dominic Rushe @'The Guardian'

Onstage and in autobiography, Bob Mould retraces raging youth to melodic middle age

Onstage at the Birchmere last week, Bob Mould set down his sky-blue Stratocaster and picked up a book.
It was the story of a teen who flees an abusive home, starts a band, hits the road, gets hooked, gets sober, goes solo, comes out of the closet, detours into electronic music, works a stint in pro wrestling, reinvents himself as a DJ and finally decides to write it all down.
It was his autobiography.
Performing songs and reading from his book for the first time ever, the 50-year-old punk legend punctuated his recollections with overwhelmed sighs. “It’s very reminiscent of May of 1989 all of a sudden,” Mould said from the stage, nervously pushing his glasses up his nose.
He was referring to his solo debut after the implosion of Husker Du, the hair-on-fire hard-core punk trio Mould formed in Minneapolis in 1979. Triangulating indelible extremes in melody, volume and speed, the band’s breakneck sound would ripple across the ’90s and beyond, influencing Nirvana, Foo Fighters and every band since that’s ever tried to coax an angry barre chord from an electric guitar...

Continue reading

Chris Richards @'The Washington Post'

More older Australians seek treatment for heroin addiction

The number of Australians receiving pharmacotherapy treatment for dependence on opioid drugs such as heroin continues to rise, and the proportion of older clients is also increasing, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The findings of the National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual Data Collection: 2010 report show that on a snapshot day in 2010 there were over 46,000 clients who received pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence.
‘There was a rise of just over 2,600 clients between 2009 and 2010 which is consistent with the growth of pharmacotherapy treatment we have seen in recent years,’ said Amber Jefferson of the AIHW’s Drug Surveys and Services Unit.
‘Since 2006, there has been a shift towards older clients receiving treatment, with the proportion of clients aged 30 years and over rising from 72% to 82% and the proportion of clients aged under 30 falling in 2010.’
‘While the number of clients receiving pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence increased in 2010, the number of clients below the age of 30 has dropped since 2006.’
‘The ratio of male to female clients has remained the same over recent years, with males making up about two-thirds of all clients,’ Ms Jefferson said.
Also consistent with findings in previous years, methadone was the most common pharmacotherapy drug, with close to 7 out of 10 clients receiving this form of treatment. The remaining clients received either buprenorphine or buprenorphine/naloxone.
‘There was a small rise in the number of dosing point sites in Australia, up from 2,157 in 2009 to 2,200 in 2010,’ Ms Jefferson said.
Most opioid pharmacotherapy dosing point sites were located in pharmacies.
The number of clients per dosing point site across Australia has been rising slowly in recent years, with 21 clients per dosing site in 2010 compared with 19 in 2006.
The AIHW is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare.
Click here for more information and to download report
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Lumberjack

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Smoking # 99

Please Kill Me

The transatlantic cocaine market

Ai Weiwei, Diplomacy, and Freedom

Making Books Is Fun (1947)

Back before inkjets, printing was a time-comsuming laborious process, that took teams of people working together to produce just one book. Now days, any crabby person can sit at home and crank out stuff on a blog or even make internet video. This movie will make you happy as you watch others toil for 'The Man' under primitive conditions...LOL!
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