Originally posted on Back of the Book – Imagine buying a house, and being locked out of the basement. That’s what digital locks do too. If you’ve been following Canadian politics, particularly the new Copyright Act (Canada’s DMCA) Bill C-11, you’ve heard of “digital locks”. A digital lock, or Digital
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Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: RCMP – Really Carefully Monitoring People
Originally appeared on BackoftheBook.ca How can I write this without sounding, well, paranoid? I believe the RCMP is watching too many people, and abusing its resources. There are plenty of signs this is taking place, and it worries me. The police should not be monitoring Canadians without having a reasonable
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Progress
In Grade 10 I read The Chrysalids, a John Wyndham science fiction that starts out describing an agrarian culture where they talk of God-like old people who could move the Earth into walls and hills. There were enough clues in the first chapter that I soon figured out that the
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: #RoboCon RoboContinues
Thx! RT @kady: Meanwhile, if you've lost the thread of the #robocalls plot, the intrepid @laura_payton has you covered: is.gd/Xzrnby— Laura Payton (@laura_payton) May 16, 2012 There’ve been a few days of no new news reported in the robocalls criminal investigation. What has been said today in CBC, while factual,
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: True Believers Ignore Evidence #RoboCon
@saskboy Will you ever learn that PMSH simply doesnt plan and execute Robocall-kindacrap? #notthatkindaPM @leaderpost— Carol Husband (@CarolHusband) May 11, 2012 “The Conservative Party can say absolutely definitively it has no role in any of this.” – Stephen Harper, PM, in the House of Commons this year (see video at
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Timeraiser for Fundraiser
Here’s a clever idea to promote volunteerism. == Here’s a little summary of RoboCon, by the links. == Wow. I hadn’t heard about the transfer to MacKay, which is of course how ‘they’ prefer it. Used to have a commissioner to keep things honest; I wonder if that position is
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Evade Censorship of Pirate Bay Block
Children learn how to use computers and work around restrictions by experimentation and reading. So too must adults when they are confronted with restrictions. It’s a good idea to learn how to evade censorship before the flow of information is shut off, otherwise working around the problem becomes much more
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Computer Science
Having a background in computers helps someone understand the RoboCon details much faster. The calls were made in large part through computer technology. When the Elections Act was created, it wasn’t possible to do robocalling, and the potential for misuse of it wasn’t considered. Fortunately, other parts of the act
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: IP Match Confirmed: Poutine Used Prescott’s Computer in #RoboCon
Read lots more by Brandon Laraby who has a roundup of links, Curiosity Cat, and Sixth Estate. When the latest documents from court appear online, I’ll post them with the rest. == RoboCon got a little more interesting and solid today after Glen McGregor made a trip to the courthouse
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Evidence And Obstruction
Postmedia has reported that the Conservatives’ voter information database (CIMS), was being investigated along with other party’s databases, to determine who gave Pierre Poutine the thousands of phone numbers used to illegally robocall Guelph non-Conservative voters. The most interesting claim by their source, was that important information leading to the
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Who Owns Creations
One of my most popular videos is one of Richard Stallman answering my questions about the proprietary nature and danger of iPads and cell phones. YouTube linked me to this other interesting video where an early Radio Shack laptop is visible. It ran on AA batteries, and I used it
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Miscellaneous Thursday
Bizarre “Fairness Advisor” position pertaining to the politically charged Roughriders sports stadium replacement process. – Calgary’s Mayor Nenshi meanwhile has this project underway for Albertan cities. – Bev Oda, fraudster, needs a Fairness Advisor to follow her around, except that would increase the ridiculous amount of money she expenses to
Continue readingTerahertz: Windows Media Center with HDMI Audio/Video in Canada
The following is going to be a technical and geeky post, written mainly to remind me of how to solve these problems should I ever re-install Windows and for others who get stuck on the same issues. Background I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate with a Diamond Wonder 750 USB TV
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Bit Torrent Links
I’m downloading the latest Ubuntu Linux OS to try it out. It’s a free alternative to Windows, and comes in very handy if Windows ever quits working (for one of its various usual reasons). To download quickly, safely, and without errors, even if there’s an interruption, Bit Torrent provides those
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Don’t Call it a Scandal
There are many people who are insisting that RoboCon does not deserve to be called a “scandal”. Conservative Party hack Levant, insists it’s a “scandalette”. Justin Trudeau (and researcher extraordinaire Brian-Michel LaRue) has a better reason for using more exact terminology: Don’t call it a scandal. Don’t call it an
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Cats
It would appear from this graph that as the cat threat makes it into the news more, there are fewer people[?] searching the word “cat” on the Internet. Curious. I’m questioning my theory that the Internet runs on cat power. Perhaps the AI autocorrection robots will overtake their cuteness and
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Poutine’s Email Address
I’ve emailed Postmedia for clarification, were there 2 or 3 emails? The account was registered to someone using the email address pierres1630@gmail.com. The order required PayPal to turn over account details, transaction history and the IP address used by pierre1630@gmail.com, whenever he or she connected to the payment company’s servers.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Don’t Tweet Me Bro
Vic Toews is one very creepy human being. Given his comments characterizing characterizing defense lawyers as getting rich off of guilty criminals [see video below], he really is a disgrace as a Minister, too. Can anyone forget that he also claimed Canadians who oppose his Internet spy bill, are pedophile
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Whose Strategy was on Your Front Porch?
We can’t keep letting Pierre Poutine get the credit for masterminding a national vote suppression conspiracy. Poutine is a side dish, not a main course. There’s no evidence that Poutine’s idea was the first, or the best, in an apparent illegal effort last year to benefit the Conservatives electoral chances
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: OLPC Canada in Saskatchewan
Years ago I bought two XO laptops from the OLPC program. I got one, and the other went to a child in Mongolia or another country where technology is scarce. Back in 2009 (or was it ’08?) it was hard to get an XO as a Canadian. There were no
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