Why is ACTA Bad?

ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A new intellectual property enforcement treaty being negotiated by the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan, with Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada recently announcing that they will join in as well.

Why should you care about ACTA? Initial reports indicate that the treaty will have a very broad scope and will involve new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology.”


Even if your country is not listed above you should care because this will spread worldwide after it passes and even if your country doesn't sign it will indirectly affect you.

1) ACTA isn't the European SOPA. Its nearly Global, and will apply to every country that signs the treaty.

2) ACTA is far more aggressive. ACTA will not simply affect websites and have them blocked out of the internet - it's measures go as far as to surveillance of anything you share through private channels.

3) ACTA doesn't have a campaign against it that is as widespread and organized as SOPA. This is DANGEROUS, as there is less time between now and the final signing of ACTA.

4) ACTA has effects on healthcare, trade and even tourism.

The biggest problem right now is that your ISP's (Internet Service Providers) can report you for anything that "could" be copyright infringement and they will monitor you constantly.

- ISPS will now watch what you download, and tattle on you if you download a music track/ any data / rapidshares / torrents etc.
- ISPS will tattle on you, when you do anything which goes against "Governments policy".
- ISPS will be able to document and store EVERYTHING you do online. nothing will ever be private again

What this all means for you is no privacy whatsoever

Say NO to ACTA. It is essential to spread awareness and get the word out on ACTA.

The Accidental Sea: An Apocalypse

Here is a video of a failed city in a barren wasteland. I love this stuff....I always feel like that is how all of north america will look in 100 years if we continue on with our obsession with suburbia and walmarts.

"There but for the grace of God go the rest of us"

In any case, the future is going to require more people to join the "maker" culture and join communes. This guy knows what I'm talking about:

I'd better practice my welding skills.

TED Talk: Origins of Pleasure

I love listening to TED talks. Here is a great one that gets into artwork, wine and other things people really enjoy. I especially like the parts about expensive artwork versus forgeries.

Ultimate Motorcycle: BMW Adventure Bikes

If I had unlimited money I would get a bike like these BMW Adventure bikes. This vid gives you a good idea of what it is like to take these monsters off-road and ride them the way they were designed. Watch for the drifting near the end of the video. That is seriously hard on a bike that size.

I'm pretty sure that these BMW GS 1200s are the bikes that Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman use when they go around the world. Awesome series btw.

via Scooter in the Sticks

Jetman Flight at Grand Canyon

You have all seen those vids of the guys in wing suits but check out this video of a guy in a wing suit jet pack.

What makes this vid even cooler is the awesome backdrop of the Grand Canyon. Gotta check it out sometime....

What is up with Noises?

For all you music pros out there this is probably old had. However to little ol' me it blows my mind. Seriously if you have 10 minutes give this a watch.

I'd like to have some discussions about notes with someone. What's interesting is that I find it very VERY hard to hear some of the things she is pointing out. That is what I blame my lack of musical skills on: Bad hearing ability. It all sort of blurs together for me.

The other interesting thing is how she ends the video. She is saying that we naturally find order in all the sounds that are coming into our ears. I find this to be a loaded statement. First of all, are some people better at creating order from sounds? Is this why I have trouble hearing someone talk to me when I am listening or reading or focusing on something else? Also, what about modern classical music? Does this mean that if you try hard enough you should be able to find beauty and order in dissonant music? I certainly can do that better than some people. Sometimes I love the sounds of modern Sigur Ros and other post-rock bands while my dear wife just wants to shut it off. This is all just so fascinating.....

Danny Macaskill - Industrial Revolutions

I loved the last Danny Macaskill video and this one features even more serious skills in an industrial train yard somewhere in Scotland.

Also the music is pretty good (very sad lyrics....).

Night Riding

Here is a sweet vid of some guy riding a bike late at night. I know the feeling - just you and the city lights. Ah it is so good.

Lossa Engineering's short film "Solus" from Jay Lossa on Vimeo.

Also, that is a very cool looking bike.

Longboarding near Madrid

This looks like an awesome time. Scary but awesome.

Also it features a pretty cool Decemberists song.

My Favorite Apartment Ever!

If I could find a place like this it would be amazing.
Too bad no one in North America can grasp the concept of being small, efficient, sustainable, clean, simple, modern etc. All of those concepts are hard to find in North American residences.

One of the best parts is that there is no yard to take care of. Also, the view is amazing and the lack of an elevator makes for some seriously good exercise.

LCD Soundsystem's last show

Check this out: The final LCD Soundsystem show at Madison Square Garden. These guys combine so many genres and influences to produce some pretty epic tunes and this is one serious party to celebrate all that.

It's almost 4 hours of glorious music and features some incredible collaborations not the least of which is Arcade Fire. Check the summary on Youtube for the set list.

Radiohead Fan Speaks Out

This is so hilarious but for some reason I want to stop short of saying I agree with him....is it because I truly actually like OK Computer or is it because I might be rejected by all my friends who are such huge Radiohead fans.

And I know a lot of huge Radiohead fans......

Arcade Fire: Scenes from the Suburbs

Check out this sweet trailer from Spike Jonze's "Scenes from the Suburbs" made in collaboration with Arcade Fire.

Yup looks pretty apocalyptic. Right up my alley.

A Hiker's Dream

This video captures the Appalachian Trail in 4000 photos.

Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

If this doesn't make you want to get out there and hike I don't know what does. I know for myself, I want to do more hiking (and possibly biking) in Gatineau this summer.

Anti-Abortion Billboard

So a few days ago this billboard went up right in New York City just down the road from a Planned Parenthood office.
It didn't last too long before being removed. But it did get a lot of press.

I'm not really well versed enough to comment on what they are saying but I have read some stuff that clearly shows that the abortion rate is much higher for African Americans than the rest of the population in the States.

In other abortion news, I noticed (thanks reddit) that when you search "Murder" on google, the wikipedia article for abortion shows up as the second item. I am sure that will get shut down pretty quickly but it sure does seem that the abortion issue is in the mainstream news a lot lately. It's not a bad thing because I really think that people need to be forced to think through this issue and discuss it.

Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home" - NEW street trials riding short film

Best travelling bike video with some awesome tricks. Danny MacAskill riding home and doing tricks throughout Scotland.

This isn't your standard bike tricks video. Think incredible views and ancient architecture.

Prank on a Call Centre

I wonder if someone can duplicate this with the Bell call centre here in Kanata. This is an insanely elaborate prank on a Belgian call center which is apparently notorious for it's poor customer service. Stick around for the ending - it is priceless.

Escher's Waterfall (In Real Life)

This is Brilliant!

Beyond Black Mesa

Remember the old game 'Half-Life'? It's possibly the best game ever made along with the second one. I never had a good enough computer for the Half-Life 2 but I spent hours playing the first one. The game engine was really what allowed those games to flow and have really decent graphics. They weren't ultra realistic but were just enough to make it incredibly immersive. The other thing was the perfectly timed 'surprises'. Even if you were expecting it the alien creatures and the commandos could jump out at you so fast you'd be left swinging your crow-bar aimlessly.

Anyway, some fans loved the games so much that they made a fan-made short movie with a couple extra bucks they had lying around. Actually it was only $1200 which is what makes the quality of this movie so incredible. This movie has been a long time coming (I remember reading about it a couple years ago) but man is it worth it.

Inspiration In The Parking Garage

This is pretty cool. Taking those impromptu concerts in malls to another level.



"Coming out of a music educators' conference in the Eugene Hilton, I heard some beautiful voices as I walked to my car. Some choir kids had located a place with good acoustics, and they were just making beautiful music. The lights over their heads only made the moment more angelic."