New York protest takes PIPA/SOPA fight to senators
Members of New York’s tech community, a couple thousand strong, braved the winter chill outside the offices of New York senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to protest the PIPA and SOPA legislation Wednesday. The assembly, organized by New York Tech Meetup, highlighted the rising importance of New York’s tech community, which has grown in recent years and often deals with the kind of user-generated content that could be targeted by the PIPA and SOPA bills. Schumer and Gillibrand are both co-sponsors of PIPA, also known as the Protect IP Act, the senate version of the SOPA or Stop Online Piracy Act.
Speakers lashed out against the legislation, calling it an overreaching tool to stop piracy brought by old media industries that are trying to buy laws through lobbying, rather than innovate. They said the danger of the bills could be crippling for New York’s tech community and for the city at large, which increasingly looks to the tech sector as an engine for growth.
“These are tech entrepreneurs who would rather be in front of their computers innovating but they’re out here to save our industry,” said Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit. “The Internet is often described as this vague thing but there are real people who use it and it’s a platform for people to get things done.”
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian
Joel Spolsky, founder of Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow said the proposed legislation won’t achieve its goals of stopping piracy and stimulating jobs. But it could have dire effects on the Internet if enforced.
“This fundamentally breaks the Internet,” said Spolsky of the legislation. “A lot of the new job growth here is from the Internet in the tech industry and a lot of that is user-generated content. It’s technically impossible to police that content perfectly. The idea that you can take down an entire domain name with all the collateral damage is overkill. It’s a nuclear option.”
Brad Burnham, a partner at Union Square Ventures, said the vagueness of the bill could hurt investments in start-ups, who may get caught up in the enforcement of piracy.
These bills, “are very broad and poorly worded and designed to sweep up as many companies as possible,” he said. “I believe a lot of companies will be affected.”
Clay Shirky, an NYU professor and technology author, said SOPA should be labeled the “First Amendment Sunset Act,” because of the way it affects Internet user’s ability to speak freely. He said the old media industry is trying to create a chilling effect that ultimately discourages free speech and debate.
“What they’re (senators Schumer and Gillibrand) saying to us is this: everyone’s got a choice, the Internet, the First Amendment, corporate control of public speech. Pick two,” he said.
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The Day The LOLcats Died: The Ultimate SOPA Protest Song [Video]
Fix Marriage Help
This is a fresh start in your marriage where it isn’t filled with misunderstandings and trivial disagreements. Say to yourself each day…I love my spouse and I really want to make this work.
4 Fixing Marriage Tips
Do Things With Love
One thing to remember is that marriages aren’t jobs and one of the simplest ways to wreck a marriage is by making everything feel like an obligation. It’s essential that you and your spouse establish a give-and-take balance although everything should be done freely and from the heart.
Can you remember back when you were head-over-heels in love and could not get enough of each other? You spoke passionately about marriage and the life you would have together. There was nothing that mattered more than being attached together in sacred matrimony. You would have never thought that a time would arrive when you couldn’t even sleep together in the same bedroom because you are always the one doing the house cleaning and your spouse can’t carry the trash out..
When doing something pleasing for your partner, the reason is because you love them and want nothing but gladness for them. You shouldn’t be running a mental list of all the wonderful things you’ve done and all the things that haven’t been done for you. Every relationship takes work, although it doesn’t have to feel like work.
Stop Nagging
We all know what nagging sounds like. Men are to blame as much as the women. Wives protest about lengthy working hours, throwing dirty clothes on the floor, the amount of time used up on sports, TV and drinking alcohol or not giving ample time to the family. On the flip side, most husbands nag about how much time their wife wastes on the telephone or getting prepared, and they complain about their grumbling wife! A quick way to fix marriage issues is to merely to stop nagging. Know that nagging will not get anything achieved.
If there’s something you disapprove about your partner or their behavior, determine the root of your concern. Question yourself why this troubles you and why are they behaving this way. Could you be at fault ? What should you do to aid the situation? What agreements are you willing to make? Ask yourself, What can I do to mend this relationship? Be rational and then approach your spouse and talk about it. Too much nagging can form a crack in your relationship.
Think Before Speaking
Whenever you are feeling angry or bitter, try to remember that saying spiteful or hurtful things will not repair your marriage problems. The matter will only get worse. You should think before speaking as words, once said aloud, can’t be retracted. Will putting down your spouse make you feel better in the long run? Definitely not! There’s no reason for unkind words to come out at all.
Nothing is wrong with wanting to deal with things that are troubling you. However, do so after the initial flood of anger and hostility has quieted and you are capable of discussing matters rationally.
Mending a marriage is never one-sided. For a successful marriage to be possible, both partners need to have a shared desire to make compromises and see the other spouse happy. As long as this commitment is true in your heart, no barrier will be too hard to overcome.
Avoid Verbal Abuse
Be cautious and avoid verbally abusing your spouse. Words can cause great disturbances, especially in a marriage. Are you someone who loses his/her temper easily and is prone to lash out at your partner? Then maybe it’s time to change your behavior. In time, the verbal abuse will result to an emotional toll on you or your partner. You might feel that they were “just words” and forget you had even said them but I promise you, your spouse will definitely not.
For the person hearing those harsh words, the pain of verbal abuse can be a great burden and be very hard to forget. Any type of verbal abuse should be stopped right away if you have relationship problems and want to fix things without divorce.
These are just a few things that can ruin a marriage. Each action is not just cruel, but also tremendously disrespectful. If you truly love your spouse, why would you want to upset them? If you truly wish for a healthy, happy relationship, ask yourself if you doing things similar to the examples above. If your answer is yes, then you should do anything in your power to create change. Your marriage will thank you kindly!
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So, Is Operation Chokehold Melting AT&T In Your Area?
It’s just after 12 o’clock here on the left coast, which means Operation Chokehold should now be in full effect. What that means (if anything at all) is still up in the air — which is why we’re turning to you for a status report.
For the initiated: Operation Chokehold is a sort of cyber-protest against AT&T, as conjured up by some dude playing a dude disguised as another dude. For one solid hour between 12 and 1 Pacific, angry iPhone owners are supposed to gobble up as much data as they can in an “attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees.”
Verizon rep spotlights protest aimed at AT&T network
Via Twitter, a contributor to Verizon’s policy blog links to a story about AT&T users’ plans to take down AT&T’s network via “Operation Chokehold.” Is he encouraging participation by linking to it?