To my fellow norwegians:

To my fellow norwegians:
You have nothing to complain about. Nothing. At. All. All problems we struggle with are 1st world problems. Really.

1st place on the prosperity ranking since 2009. We did it again this year. We can afford to share, to help. To be open and including.

If you feel that 'they' take your jobs, leech on our society, or otherwise are a burden to you - i have some news. It's not 'them'. It's you. You have better possibilities here than anywhere else in the world. So shut up and stop complaining.


http://www.prosperity.com/#!/?opts=map

Yes. I could have done more. Most of us could.

Yes. I could have done more. Most of us could.

http://youtu.be/yN4Uu0OlmTg
http://youtu.be/yN4Uu0OlmTg

You forgot the handbrake, Kelvin Williams

You forgot the handbrake, Kelvin Williams 
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18r3ta9e2qp60jpg/ku-xlarge.jpg

#KelvinsPoorlyParkedCar
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18r3ta9e2qp60jpg/ku-xlarge.jpg

Is this the car you parked last night, Kelvin Williams ?

Is this the car you parked last night, Kelvin Williams ?

http://i4.coventrytelegraph.net/incoming/article2985664.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0007E8B9-D8E0-1007-997880C328EC0000-2985664.jpg

Sorry about reposting. First attempt refused to include the picture...

#KelvinsPoorlyParkedCar
http://i4.coventrytelegraph.net/incoming/article2985664.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0007E8B9-D8E0-1007-997880C328EC0000-2985664.jpg

One laugh (at least) per line if you are an old time programmer.

One laugh (at least) per line if you are an old time programmer.

Originally shared by Robbie Shade

"1972 - Dennis Ritchie invents a powerful gun that shoots both forward and backward simultaneously. Not satisfied with the number of deaths and permanent maimings from that invention he invents C and Unix."

A thoroughly excellent history of programming languages.
http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-mostly-wrong.html

Bikers are human. Never make assumptions just because someone prefers 2 wheels instead of 4.

Bikers are human. Never make assumptions just because someone prefers 2 wheels instead of 4.

Originally shared by ****
http://distractify.com/people/bikers/

Boobs are to men what laser pointers are to cats...

Originally shared by Weasel

Boobs are to men what laser pointers are to cats...

A quiet sunday morning on my way to work on the boat.

A quiet sunday morning on my way to work on the boat.
I am no great photographer, but HDR photography seems to help me capture the colors of this wintery morning.

And this in a country that spews out movies telling us how dreams can come true. Come on. Dream! You can do it.

And this in a country that spews out movies telling us how dreams can come true. Come on. Dream! You can do it.

Originally shared by Don Denton

"...Universal healthcare is just a dream."

Couldn't get it to load properly on my android phone.

Couldn't get it to load properly on my android phone. Got a few photos and a dead slow browser. Will look for the story elsewhere.

Originally shared by Jürgen Hubert

No words.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

Northern lights over my hometown and Myrna Braza singing. Nice combo.

Northern lights over my hometown and Myrna Braza singing. Nice combo.

Originally shared by Gunnar Kopperud

Timelapse - Northern Lights over the wharf in Bergen, Norway the night of 14th Oct 2013

Was very lucky when I went down to the harbor area in Bergen the night of 14th october ... the sky started to light up with the Aurora Borealis dancing ... ahh ... was a magical night - once in a lifetime experience of being at the right spot at just the right time - It doesn't happen very often that we can see northern lights this far south - and in Bergen without skies to cover it up (It's on the western part of southern Norway who gets a lot of rain). And even better - almost no wind ... made me shooting pictures for 2+ hours ... so here is a timelapse from that night ... :) 

Music by the amazing artist Myrna Braza from Bergen with the song "Free As A Bird" - http://www.myrnabraza.no/ - Free As A Bird - Myrna Braza

See more pictures/order a print: http://www.gunnarkopperud.com/Norway/Bergen-Norway/

For questions about ordering print drop me an email at gunnar.kopperud+orderprint@gmail.com

http://www.google.com/+GunnarKopperud

Nikon D800E - 35mm 1.4 Sigma Art Lens

Made with Lightroom, LRtimelapse and Adobe Premiere Pro CC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMAfRvWsAQI&feature=autoshare

What he says. I'm too shocked to comment. Just... Wow. A 1% making sense.

What he says. I'm too shocked to comment. Just... Wow. A 1% making sense.

http://www.pimco.com/EN/Insights/Pages/Scrooge-McDucks.aspx
http://www.pimco.com/EN/Insights/Pages/Scrooge-McDucks.aspx

We will now see increased debate over 'allowable' use of glass.

We will now see increased debate over 'allowable' use of glass.

Instead we should take the debate further.


With glass other people can see them and they can be taken off.

It isn't difficult to conceal recording technology, yet people feel threatened by glass because it is visible.

What to do then when eye implants become common? What if those implants have options like IR vision, zooming or even recording. And cannot be removed. Should a person with eye implants be denied the right to see concerts? Use a public shower? Or will we have to accept that privacy must change? Most people are very sloppy with their privacy on the internet where search engines makes it easy to find anything. Yet they react to people wearing glass because it is invasive.

I will gladly talk to people around me about these issues. Get more data points. If only i had a pair. :-D

http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/10/28/5039356/google-glass-production-accelerating-ahead-of-consumer-launch

I think the world is ready for the complementary /dev/zero as a service. Also known as NAAS (Nothing As A Service).

I think the world is ready for the complementary /dev/zero as a service. Also known as NAAS (Nothing As A Service).

Everybody needs NULLs. Obviously a cloud provider can provide more reliable and standardized NULLs, available over reliable protocols and backed by load-balancing clusters.

My business plan would include "money for nothing" and "chicks for free". Volume discounts would be available.

Originally shared by ****

http://devnull-as-a-service.com
http://devnull-as-a-service.com

I just discovered that Syster Sol had a new album out.

I just discovered that Syster Sol had a new album out. She is one of my favorites. I love both the voice and the message. She sings reggae, mostly in swedish.

http://open.spotify.com/album/2nyjQWrTM5dcaUYOno6ivK
http://open.spotify.com/album/2nyjQWrTM5dcaUYOno6ivK

Strive to always make now the perfect moment.

Strive to always make now the perfect moment.

Originally shared by Jenny Winder

The Decelerators
from Mark Slutsky
Great five minute science fiction film
https://vimeo.com/48492387

This is a serious problem for women on the net.

This is a serious problem for women on the net. We want g+ to have a living, thriving community for everyone, women included.

Comments on the original thread, please.

Originally shared by Kimberly Chapman

Another Week, Another Woman Harassed Into Leaving

Over the weekend I found out yet another awesome geek lady of G+ has abandoned the site due to overwhelming sexual harassment. 

Rory Triscuit (https://profiles.google.com/100979357612465960518/about) is gone and told mutual friends that she left because of being sick of the sexual harassment she faces here every day.  I don't know what specific event was her last straw, but she's deleted her posts and all that remains is her about page with its bolded appeal to not hit on her.  But creepers don't read about pages or heed warnings, do they?

Last week I posted about a woman who was getting rape threats from a troll she'd snarked back on, and how G+ staff actually told her she shouldn't have engaged the troll to begin with and just block him, completely ignoring the fact that the dude had been blocked already and was now harassing from a secondary account.

Because blocking does not work.  Not only is there nothing stopping the jerk from making more and more accounts, but it also does nothing to help the next victim, and the next, and the next.  And short of screencapping and then sharing amongst your friends, along with the profile link of the perpetrator, there's no real easy way to spread the word to everyone you care about that this person is a problem.

So, G+, what are you going to do about this?  Because the typical excuses are getting really, really old.  It's getting very hard not to see the top sphere as a mostly-boys' club that doesn't care.  I happen to know personally that at least one of those top dudes does care very much, but it's going to take a lot more than that one dude wishing he could do more.

Let's talk about suggestions:

1) Better Blocking

If G+ is going to stick to the "just block them" paradigm, at least make blocking useful.  Here are a handful of ways blocking could be better for clamping down on repeat offenders:

- Make blocking faster and more intuitive.  Right now, if I see harassment in my friend's post, it appears to be a catch-all report of "Spam or Abuse".  Only if you hover over it after the report does it give you a choice for more details, including the ability to block.  People miss that all the time.  The previous method of having a dialogue pop up was better.

- Make blocking easier.  Right now, you can unblock from a hovercard but not block from one.  Sometimes you see a bunch of people posting crap you know will be ignored if reported (ie vague neo-Nazi nonsense that isn't specifically abusive but indicative of people you don't want in your posts) and you want to go down the list and block the lot of 'em without reporting each comment.  You then have to go to each person's profile, let it load fully (which takes a ridiculous amount of time), treat yourself to the often nasty visuals they have in their profile display and posts, and then block.  Oh, and then you have to wait some more, because if you close the tab before the button has gone from red to grey, they aren't blocked.  This is nonsense.  We should be able to block from the hovercard in the first place, especially since we can unblock from it.

- Make blocking easier to share.  When I block someone - particularly a sexual harasser - I want to be able to automatically let my friends or possibly even the public know, in a way that demonstrates the problem and lets them quickly block as well.  Perhaps when I click to flag and then subsequently do the second part (which, as above, should not require a counter-intuitive re-hover) there could be an option to Share.  Then that option could copy the text of the flagged comment to a post in a way that I can't tamper with so folks know this was what was actually posted, also paste in a direct-block link (ie a more functional hovercard) of the offender, and I could share that like a normal post to whomever I wished, but with the added security of not notifying the blocked person.

Further, it would be really nice to somehow keep a non-circled list of blockees for sharing, or multiples, perhaps by type.  That way we could share lists amongst friends that they could auto-adopt like a shared circle.

This attitude that blocking is "mean" or "censorship" or "a witch hunt" has got to go, especially if G+ is also going to have staff tell people who are receiving actual rape threats in a potentially criminally chargeable way to "just block".  We should, as microcommunities within G+, be able to choose to shun en masse as desired.

Oh, and all of this should work as effectively on mobile as on desktop.


2) More Effective Reporting That Actually Does Something

As mentioned above, right now it's unintuitive that you have to hover over something once you've reported it to be able to report further.  And even if you do, you can't effectively report harassment against other people.  It just gives you a brush-off message and if that report goes anywhere from that point, it's not clear.

Many of us who hone in on truly egregious posters - like those posting child pornography - have noticed that enough reports does get G+'s attention and those pages get removed fast.  That's awesome.  But why isn't it the same for perpetual harassers?  How many reports of harassment does it take for a profile to be deleted?  And are IP addresses ever blocked or is it just easy for all of these creeps to just make a new account repeatedly?

There needs to be a more open, obvious, and clear policy about these things.  If you want us to trust you, G+, you need to trust us enough to tell us how it works and not hide behind proprietary screens.


3) Better Training for Staff, Both in Public and in Back

Many of us are still reeling in shock at seeing a staffer tell someone being threatened with rape that she shouldn't have engaged with the troll and should have just blocked.  That victim-blaming crap ought to be Red Flag Number One that you need more training in your offices on how to deal with sexual harassment issues.

But it's not just that once incidence: I've personally seen too many women try to report sustained harassment and be given brush-offs, be told something along the lines of, "Sorry, our policy doesn't let me do anything about this," or worse, cast the victim as the problem and threaten her with being removed.  I've seen multiple women who have been put through the ringer for trying to report fake profiles of them made by stalking exes who post intimate photos, or even just post as them in generally embarrassing, trouble-making ways.  Some of them just leave, others soldier on knowing there's nothing to be done.

Further, going to private-only posts should not ever be a suggestion.  That's akin to telling women if we don't want to be sexually harassed on a public street, we should lock ourselves inside.  Too much of the attitude around here puts the onus on victims to change the system, when the onus should be on G+ to deal with perpetrators.

Perhaps G+ should be hiring some kind of anti-sexual-harassment company to come in and educate the staff - from ground level up to executive - on how to more effectively deal with reports.  Because right now, it honestly looks like at best you don't care, and at worst, you're blaming victims.


4) Profile Photos Should Be Lockable

Just today it was revealed by some friends who otherwise control their photos that profile photos are shareable.  That's crazy.  Profile photos should have the same security options as any other photo posted.  It's actually a disturbingly common method of sexual harassment that's been around since the early days of G+: the creepers seem to pass around a hot profile photo and then flock to the woman to drive her crazy.


5) Generally Improved User Controls

There are several ways many of us have been begging for for ages to better control accounts to reduce the incidences of trolling/harassment, and we feel like nobody's listening.

- Turn of +1 notifications.  Right now harassers can "plusfuck" you and there's not even a way to report that as harassment.

- Comment Karma.  We really need some kind of system that lets those who wish it set a higher threshold before uncircled users can comment on their posts.  It's not good enough to just lock comments to circles because that prevents decent new folks from entering discussions.  Many, many versions of this have been suggested for the last couple of years.  G+ needs to implement something.

- Ghost blocking, temporary bans, etc.  Many people are asking for the ability to shut someone up in a troublesome thread without having to enact a total block ban.  There should be degrees of control here.

- Hangout invites need to be locked down.  Right now you can only set it that people can notify you first or not.  Many people don't want most people they interact with online to be able to beg for hangouts constantly.  We should be able to control that better than just shutting the entire toolbar off.  It's an easy vehicle for harassment right now and needs to stop.

- Ability to stop community invites from people not in circles.  We women get invited to an ungodly number of porny communities on a regular basis.  Ew.  Let us stop this in advance, please!  Plus everyone else wants this setting too for the other bazillion community invites spammer send daily.

- Ability to set posts to Comments Disabled before clicking the share button.  Sometimes people have good reasons for not allowing comments, and it's silly that they have to make the post and then go to the pull-down to disable comments.  In the time it takes to do that, a comment or two often comes through.

- Ability to mark posts as not eligible for What's Hot, and/or an indicator on the post when it's gone to WH.  WH is a magnet for abuse, especially on women's issues.  I've received more rape threats and associated abuse from my feminist posts hitting WH than all other harassment put together.  High profile women who frequently have posts hit WH pretty much know that every time they post, they're going to get a ton of crap thrown at them.  And this problem isn't limited to sexual harassment of women: any post hitting WH gets filled with stupidity.  Let us choose as we post to not allow this to happen, and give us the Comment Karma settings to minimize it if it does!



These are just the suggestions I could remember in between doing dishes tonight and before I need to go bathe the baby.  I'm a busy mom who shouldn't have to be telling one of the world's biggest corporations with a motto of "Don't be evil" how to curtail sexual harassment on their social media platform.  I shouldn't have to watch friend after friend bail or go to private-only because the problem is so disgustingly huge.  I shouldn't have to see thread after thread descend into chaos because some women can't post anything without being hit on.

Google exists as an aggregator of data.  There's no excuse for why you can predict my search terms with disturbing accuracy but can't figure out that someone posting constant sexual harassment needs to go.

Do something.  For pity's sake, do anything.  Stop ignoring us.

It's that time of the year again!

It's that time of the year again!

Circle up and get ready. We all want to be elves, right?

Originally shared by Secret Santa

Everyone circle Secret Santa !! It makes it easier on the elves when updating and highlighting lists!

https://www.bergen.kommune.no/aktuelt/tema/klimaogmiljo/article-109131

https://www.bergen.kommune.no/aktuelt/tema/klimaogmiljo/article-109131
https://www.bergen.kommune.no/aktuelt/tema/klimaogmiljo/article-109131

Who's been asleep here?

Who's been asleep here?

Originally shared by ****
http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/09/11/1224252/are-the-nist-standard-elliptic-curves-back-doored

Testing #zswap in #Fedora 19

Testing #zswap in #Fedora 19
Dietrich Schmitz would be interested in this...

One of the new features of the 3.11 Linux kernel was the zswap driver. When there is a need to start swapping zswap wil first try compressing data in memory. This will load the CPU with some compression/decompression, but will avoid slow writes to disk.

If you want to start testing zswap right now, these are the steps required:
First, install the required kernel. If Fedora still doesn't have a 3.11 or later kernel in the standard repo, try running
yum --enablerepo=\*testing\* update \*kernel\*
If this offers a 3.11 or later kernel you are set. if not, try installing the repo file for rawhide:
yum install fedora-release-rawhide
and then add the 3.12 or later from there:
yum --enablerepo=\*rawhide\* update \*kernel\*
Rawhide is more or less the alpha version of what will become Fedora.

Edit /etc/sysconfig/grub and add zswap.enabled=1 to the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line. then run
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
and reboot.

dmesg | grep zswap
will show some output if installation was successfull.

Leave a comment with your impression of zswap,

Why you should consider #Fedora as your #Linux platform.

Why you should consider #Fedora   as your #Linux platform.

Let me be clear about one thing from the beginning. I don't think Fedora is the answer for everybody. But I want to list a few reasons why you should consider Fedora. And a few reasons to stay away.

Systems administrators: There is a high possibility you are dealing with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or one of its derivatives (CentOS, Scientific Linux...). Running Fedora on a desktop will give you the advantage that any new technology that pops up in RHEL will be old news to you. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat and can be seen as a technology enabler/testbed for RHEL.

Software developers: You should definitely have a Fedora system in your build farm. Not in order to support Fedora, as you most probably won't, but to catch problems with new versions of kernels, libraries, etc early. That way you can prepare for code changes before you run into build problems on your supported platforms. Also, Fedora is clean. You have to add 3rd party repositories to get software that is encumbered by patents or other legal problems. By working on a clean Fedora platform you know when you introduce libraries that may not be free, and you can look into the legal ramifications.

Linux enthusiasts: Fedora has a big community. It also atracts a lot of developers. There are several reasons for that. One is that Fedora is close to upstream. The fedora way is to feed all changes and patches up to the upstream maintainers and make as few changes as possible to packages in Fedora. If you like to use your energy going forward instead of trying to halt progress Fedora may be for you. The red Hat involvement also means there are very professional developers on the team. If you really want to go beyond the bleeding edge you can enable the 'rawhide' repositories and run the 'rolling' alpha version of the next Fedora. Just be aware that rawhide may be best used in a virtual machine. rawhide breaks.

Let's look at the other side of the coin. Why should you not run Fedora?

If you think any distro needs to support LTS kernels, Fedora is not for you. Fedora will actually upgrade to newer major versions of the kernel within a Fedora release rather than use a lot of energy backporting critical fixes to older kernels.

If you are not familiar with linux, I am a bit uncertain. On one hand Fedora offers the latest versions of Desktop Environments (Gnome, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, Mate...) with all the latest GUI bells and whistles to make a user friendly experience. On the other hand sometimes things break. Fedora is bleeding edge, so once in a while it can be nice to be familiar with a command line.

Fedora sometimes forces new technologies into production before they are quite finished. This helps shake out problems, but makes for some rough rides for Fedora users. Personally I prefer being part of that rather than figthing old and obsolete technologies. Among the most controversial such technologies were pulseaudio and NetworkManager. Both matured nicely.

http://fedoraproject.org/ Have a look, and test a spin on a live usb stick. Perhaps Fedora is for you?
http://fedoraproject.org/

66.8m (220 ft) freefall in a lifeboat. would you want to do it?

66.8m (220 ft) freefall in a lifeboat. would you want to do it?

no, i have not tried it. but it certainly looks fascinating.

http://youtu.be/3FfJuRXM9B0
http://youtu.be/3FfJuRXM9B0

So... The NSA wants the fingerprints of all iphone users now?

So... The NSA wants the fingerprints of all iphone users now?

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/10/4715372/confirmed-apple-iphone-5s-will-include-touch-id-fingerprint-scanner
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/10/4715372/confirmed-apple-iphone-5s-will-include-touch-id-fingerprint-scanner

http://youtu.be/yRhq-yO1KN8

http://youtu.be/yRhq-yO1KN8

Originally shared by Randy Patton

I wasn't really planning to post this, but since it happened and it is out there:

I wasn't really planning to post this, but since it happened and it is out there:

We bought this beauty this summer. There is a lot of work ahead.

1st priority will be the hull and the mast. Is there anyone out there who has personal experience with xtreemcoat?

Every piece of rope aboard has to be renewed. The sails have not been up for 10 years. When we bought her she had not moved for 3 years. The previous owner had dismantled the hydraulic automatic transmission completely without any clear idea why or any knowledge about what to do with it. Luckily a friend is a very good mechanic. He got it back together without documentation.

She was built for cargo and later rebuilt as a pure sailboat. A very wide hull gives lots of room for children and dogs.

from bad to worse

from bad to worse
#banjo #accordeon #shipwrecked

my 8 year old son wants a physics book for christmas sounds good, doesn't it? but listen...

my 8 year old son wants a physics book for christmas sounds good, doesn't it? but listen...

he needs it to build the largest machine in the world. a machine to search for other dimensions, and to copy our dimension if he doesn't find one. he warns that if something goes wrong it will blow up half the world. and he has a shopping list containing uranium, lead, radiation shielded clothing and a cryogenic cell.

so... i ask you... should i dare give him that book? and what are good physics books for upcoming (evil?) geniuses?

This initiative could really need some help.

This initiative could really need some help. Ken gives back to the whole Linux community, not just in central Texas where he refurbishes old PC's and hands them out to schoolchildren without a PC at home.

plus - you can get time weaver ebooks almost for free!

Originally shared by Ken Starks

With only 5 days left for our Reglue fund raiser, we can surely use your help.  This effort will fund us for this fiscal year.   Your help is greatly appreciated. 
http://igg.me/p/reglue-helping-those-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-digital-divide

in case a cartoon makes it easier to grasp...

in case a cartoon makes it easier to grasp...

Originally shared by ****

The One Comic That Explains Just How Screwed America Is
by Occupy Posters

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/26/1103368/-The-One-Comic-That-Explains-Just-How-Screwed-America-Is?detail=email

A rugged solar powered laptop that ships with Linux?

A rugged solar powered laptop that ships with Linux? And there is a marine version as well? I will be very, very tempted to buy one for running OpenCPN aboard.

http://solaptop.com/en/products/laptops/
http://solaptop.com/en/products/laptops/

:-D :-D :-D

:-D :-D :-D

Originally shared by ****

THIS IS SO VERY WELL DONE!    ^^

http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2013/08/08/mads-war-on-privacy-cover

#MAD

Wake up!

Wake up!

Originally shared by Jenny Winder

Wake Up - Great short film by Kostas Karydas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpyNPaHXin8#at=53

Everyone should back this.

Everyone should back this. Show the IOC that they should pull out of countries that are actually moving in the wrong direction with respect to basic human rights.

Originally shared by Mat Hanley

Stephen Fry wrote an open letter to David Cameron  and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to campaign against the Russian Winter Olympics

He wants the IOC to pull out of Russia for the Winter Olympics and go somewhere else. This is in reaction to Russia's anti-LGBT  laws. I really have to agree, and I'm sharing so more people know about this open letter

since his website seems to have having issues read the whole letter here 

"Dear Prime Minister, M Rogge, Lord Coe and Members of the International Olympic Committee,
I write in the earnest hope that all those with a love of sport and the Olympic spirit will consider the stain on the Five Rings that occurred when the 1936 Berlin Olympics proceeded under the exultant aegis of a tyrant who had passed into law, two years earlier, an act which singled out for special persecution a minority whose only crime was the accident of their birth. In his case he banned Jews from academic tenure or public office, he made sure that the police turned a blind eye to any beatings, thefts or humiliations afflicted on them, he burned and banned books written by them. He claimed they “polluted” the purity and tradition of what it was to be German, that they were a threat to the state, to the children and the future of the Reich. He blamed them simultaneously for the mutually exclusive crimes of Communism and for the controlling of international capital and banks. He blamed them for ruining the culture with their liberalism and difference. The Olympic movement at that time paid precisely no attention to this evil and proceeded with the notorious Berlin Olympiad, which provided a stage for a gleeful Führer and only increased his status at home and abroad. It gave him confidence. All historians are agreed on that. What he did with that confidence we all know.

Putin is eerily repeating this insane crime, only this time against LGBT Russians. Beatings, murders and humiliations are ignored by the police. Any defence or sane discussion of homosexuality is against the law. Any statement, for example, that Tchaikovsky was gay and that his art and life reflects this sexuality and are an inspiration to other gay artists would be punishable by imprisonment. It is simply not enough to say that gay Olympians may or may not be safe in their village. The IOC absolutely must take a firm stance on behalf of the shared humanity it is supposed to represent against the barbaric, fascist law that Putin has pushed through the Duma. Let us not forget that Olympic events used not only to be athletic, they used to include cultural competitions. Let us realise that in fact, sport is cultural. It does not exist in a bubble outside society or politics. The idea that sport and politics don’t connect is worse than disingenuous, worse than stupid. It is wickedly, wilfully wrong. Everyone knows politics interconnects with everything for “politics” is simply the Greek for “to do with the people”.

An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world.
He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it. I know whereof I speak. I have visited Russia, stood up to the political deputy who introduced the first of these laws, in his city of St Petersburg. I looked into the face of the man and, on camera, tried to reason with him, counter him, make him understand what he was doing. All I saw reflected back at me was what Hannah Arendt called, so memorably, “the banality of evil.” A stupid man, but like so many tyrants, one with an instinct of how to exploit a disaffected people by finding scapegoats. Putin may not be quite as oafish and stupid as Deputy Milonov but his instincts are the same. He may claim that the “values” of Russia are not the “values” of the West, but this is absolutely in opposition to Peter the Great’s philosophy, and against the hopes of millions of Russians, those not in the grip of that toxic mix of shaven headed thuggery and bigoted religion, those who are agonised by the rolling back of democracy and the formation of a new autocracy in the motherland that has suffered so much (and whose music, literature and drama, incidentally I love so passionately).

I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler’s anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and it is constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian “correctively” raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi thugs while the Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and I for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself.

“All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” so wrote Edmund Burke. Are you, the men and women of the IOC going to be those “good” who allow evil to triumph?
The Summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glorious moments of my life and the life of my country. For there to be a Russian Winter Olympics would stain the movement forever and wipe away any of that glory.

 The Five Rings would finally be forever smeared, besmirched and ruined in the eyes of the civilised world.
I am begging you to resist the pressures of pragmatism, of money, of the oily cowardice of diplomats and to stand up resolutely and proudly for humanity the world over, as your movement is pledged to do. Wave your Olympic flag with pride as we gay men and women wave our Rainbow flag with pride. Be brave enough to live up to the oaths and protocols of your movement, which I remind you of verbatim below.

Rule 4 Cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace

Rule 6: Act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement

Rule 15 Encourage and support initiatives blending sport with culture and education

I especially appeal to you, Prime Minister, a man for whom I have the utmost respect. As the leader of a party I have for almost all of my life opposed and instinctively disliked, you showed a determined, passionate and clearly honest commitment to LGBT rights and helped push gay marriage through both houses of our parliament in the teeth of vehement opposition from so many of your own side. For that I will always admire you, whatever other differences may lie between us. In the end I believe you know when a thing is wrong or right. Please act on that instinct now.

Yours in desperate hope for humanity

Stephen Fry

via http://www.stephenfry.com/2013/08/07/an-open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-the-ioc

If you agree, please re-share this post to support Stephen Fry's campaign

times they are a-changin'

times they are a-changin'

this book ("pleasure boating") from 1977 depicts men everywhere someone is repairing or rigging a boat, but a woman sewing.

i'm quite proud of my improvements with the sewing machine, and see no reason to involve a woman for that. but i would not attempt any repairs on the boat without involving my SO. she rocks in the garage. and guess what? i don't feel threatened. :-D

sin palabras

sin palabras

Originally shared by Christine “Chrissie” Cope

Wonderful "tongue in cheek" post

the kids have a new toy.

the kids have a new toy.

now i just have to find out how this works. it's far more complicated than the one i had 30 years ago.

21 feet long. built at a local sailing club back in the late 40s or early 50s. has been epoxy treated at some point.

What is it like to live within the "Commonwealth of Nations"?

What is it like to live within the "Commonwealth of Nations"?

For all of my plussers out there who have experience with the inside of the commonwealth: Tell me about the positive and negative aspects of the commonwealth from the 'inside'.

Looking at it from the outside the whole idea seems far more sound than the European Union. I mean... why should we want to be in an alliance with countries that are all alike (more or less)? Should we all trade the same stuff with each other?

Doesn't it make much more sense to have a varied group of countries that actually are interesting as commercial partners?

Also, the EU has a big problem with transparency and with democracy. So many directives that we have little or no influence on. Designed sometimes by closed and hidden working groups without any political supervision at all. It all seems to me a bit like a bureaucrats wet dream come true.

Any input welcome!

Odin is a very social bird.

Odin is a very social bird.

Today he wanted a sausage, and he gave me a few apples (very undeveloped ones) in return. Who could say no to that?

Norway isn't on the route, but i may have followers that like this idea and are better located. :-)

Norway isn't on the route, but i may have followers that like this idea and are better located. :-)

Originally shared by Michael Lee Johnson

Is it possible to travel across the world for FREE using nothing but Google+  and a whole lot of hugs? -- All whilst raising crazy amounts of money for UNICEF UK,  having fun and bringing my dream to life and letting the whole world dream with me?

Over the course of the next 3 years, I am going to be walking from Beijing to London, whilst doing live Google+ hangouts from one side of the world to the other and recording a documentary about my use of Google+ over the entire duration. 

On Friday July 26th, I was going to be boarding a flight to Hong Kong with the intention of heading up to Beijing on the train, and then I had an idea...

Why not make this journey a little more interesting. Why not make it more about you, and less about me. Inviting you into my journey. Inviting you to take part. And instead of getting on a flight direct to Hong Kong, why not ditch this plane ticket and social-travel all the way (in 21 days or less) using nothing but Google+ and the goodwill of this community... Allowing me to showcase that within my documentary and to the rest of the world...And then walk the entire 15,000km back home (as scheduled) doing live Google+ hangouts.

How will this work?

I am going to attempt to rely solely on my Google+ connections to get me from England to Hong Kong. (Whilst raising money for UNICEF  and proving to the mainstream media that Google+ isn’t a ghost-town and is the best social network on the planet). Who’s with me?

In 21 days from Friday 26th, I would like to be in Hong Kong to continue with my journey according to plan... And I need your help. Without YOU this will not work.

I will be arrive in London on Wednesday night. If someone could put me up for the night (or possibly even 2), it would be greatly appreciated. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a couch or a floor in your hallway. Anything will do. And if you could drive me to Google, UK (or if someone else with a car could) that would be great too. If not, I will just get up early and walk.

I am in Widnes, Cheshire right now, in between Manchester and Liverpool, England. I have lunch with Google, UK over in London on Thursday at 1pm. After lunch I am going to be hanging out with Google Creative Labs in New York until about 3pm. At 4pm I have a meeting with a girl from Propeller TV  (Sky T.V channel 189) regarding my walk from Beijing to London, and then after that... My Google+ #microadventure to Hong Kong will begin. 

How can you help?

If you could put me up for the night, drive me somewhere or provide me with a rail or ferry ticket, food, water or possibly even a cup of tea - at one point across my route. It would be greatly appreciated. 

I plan on leaving the UK on Friday (somehow). Probably on the train, coach or ferry. Can you help me get across the water from Folkestone, Kent, to Calais, France? Or maybe even a little further? Or maybe you’re driving from London to Kent on Thursday night or Friday morning?

Can you help me get from France to Switzerland, or at least half way? Can you put me up for the night in Paris or anywhere else in France for that matter? Can you get me from Switzerland to Italy, or put me up for the night at one point of the distance? Can you help get me from Italy to Croatia, Albania or even Greece? Can you help me get from Greece to Bulgaria or Turkey? Can you help me get from Turkey to India, or possibly from India to Nepal and then to Hong Kong?

Anything you can do to help would be genuinely appreciated... And if you can’t help me, maybe someone in your circles can...

The Route

England
France 
Switzerland
Italy
Croatia
Albiania
Greece 
Bulgaria
Turkey
India
Nepal
Hong kong

If you can help me travel, eat, drink or sleep throughout any of the areas across my route, you will be featured within my documentary and forever a friend. 

The Rules?

I only have 3 rules to follow during my Google+ Adventure to Hong Kong.

1: I can only accept offers of food, water, travel or accommodation from people on Google+. 
2: I can not accept money from you
3: I can not board a plane until I atleast get to India. I want this experience to be as culturally diverse as possible so I can broadcast it live on Google+ at various points of my destination.


The idea sounded a little crazy at first. I mean, who the hell was going to help me? I am nobody. At least nobody important anyway, and according to many journalists, Google+ is a ghost town. A platform that nobody uses and nobody cares about. By their viewpoint, this question would probably be ridiculous to ask, because nobody would answer. Nobody would see it. But I think they’re wrong. And this is my attempt to prove it.

What will happen if I don’t make it to Hong Kong in 21 days?

Nothing. I will just jump on a flight from wherever I am, and then head up to Beijing and begin my journey across the world as planned.

How am I raising money for unicef?

Online. Checkout my fundraising page here (http://fundraise.unicef.org.uk/MyPage/OnFootToFreedom) and don’t forget to donate. 

UNICEF is the world's leading organisation for children, working in over 190 countries. Theydo whatever it takes to make a lasting difference to children's lives. In everything they do, the most disadvantaged children are their priority.

During my entire 3 year walk I am going to attempt to raise 1 Million GBP. I think it’s possible.

Why am I doing this?

Because I want to bring you all into my journey and experience what I experience and see what I see. All whilst doing some good for the world. -- And proving to the press Google+ is not a ghost town (and possibly converting a few hundred thousand Facebook users into avid Google+ fans).

Ever since I was younger, I wanted to do something special. Real special. Some people go backpacking across Europe or travel the American West by train. Other people head to Australia or Bangkok, and sometimes even Spain. I ended up doing what most people do – going to school, getting a job, and getting stuck in life. A life that I didn’t like, but became accustomed to. It was a good job, it paid the bills, but I felt like I would have to give up my dream of an incredible journey – my childhood dream. I was actually getting to where I was OK with it. Where I was ready to give up on my dream and not follow through. Lots of people have to give up their dreams and settle for the life they fall into. A job they don’t like, but do anyway. – No longer could I do that.

I quit my job 13 months ago to train my arse off to follow my dream and walk across the world.

I think by socially-traveling my way to Hong Kong using Google+, my entire journey will go down in history and I will be able to raise my target of 1 Million over the entire duration of my journey for Unicef. - Not to mention showcase how amazing the Google+ platform and people are to the world.


What am I going to be doing during this 21 Google+ #microadventure?

I will mainly be filming and taking photographs. Interviewing the people that have helped me. Hangout parties and live on air broadcasts. Engaging with my audience, meeting new people, taking on new cultures and generally having fun whilst raising money for Unicef.

What if nobody decides to help me?

If nobody on Google+ decides to help me with this endeavour, I will continue as planned and board a flight to Hong Kong on Friday 27th.

How will this change my live on air event schedule?

Completely (at least until I arrive in Hong Kong). But I will still be doing my first live on air show on Saturday 27th from wherever I am in the world at that point in time. ( I will probably be in France). I will post programme updates to the event page here -> https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c3sn05pr4k1mrklihnc9r66mbus - Don’t forget to tune in! 

Do you think this crazy idea is even possible or am I just nuts? Can you help me? share this post with your circles and let’s make history! Help me prove to the press that Google+ is not a ghost-town and let’s raise a crazy amount of money for Unicef UK.

Sommermorro

Originally shared by Kai Tore Braathen

Sommermorro

#artig

Gentoo at the local aquarium.

Gentoo at the local aquarium.

Yeah. The penguins, not the linux distro.

Odin is growing up.

Odin is growing up.

Looking quite adult now compared to the little ball we started feeding earlier this summer. He is always hungry. Ham, sausages, dog food... He'll eat anything. The whole neighborhood is well domesticated. When the dog food didn't come out of the can quickly enough yesterday he bit my finger :-D

Often he just calls us out because he is lonely. He needs someone to walk around the garden with, turning stones, pulling out grass, etc.

Caching proxy and power controller?

Caching proxy and power controller?

Ideas that flutter by and no time to implement... If this sounds good, is there anyone who wants to do it?

A proxy server to run at home that will detect attempts to reach services on my servers (from inside or outside), initiate poweron (wake on lan, start virtual instance, etc) and reply with cached data until the service is up.

That way my servers could suspend/hibernate/power down when idle and save a lot of energy.

I know that varnish is a powerful/flexible cache server. Would it handle something like this?

Something tells me $23 million isn't enough to make an impact.

Something tells me $23 million isn't enough to make an impact. Remember that this is an attempt at changing a corrupt nation where the big banks will find a way to siphon off most of the aid.

Ecuador: fantastic initiative! Please invite the rest of the world to cooperate! Perhaps together we can change them.

Ecuadorian Communications Secretary, Fernando Alvarado, announced $23 million in Ecuadoran aid to the United States to provide “human rights training” to combat torture, illegal executions and “attacks on peoples’ privacy.”
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/06/27/ecuador-cancels-us-trade-pact-over-repeated-threats/

JavaZone have done it again...

JavaZone have done it again...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3418SeWZfQ&feature=share

Life as a white heterosexual man

Life as a white heterosexual man

My imperfect translation of a post on nrk.no (The norwagian state-owned radio/tv station) by journalist Olav Brostrup Müller (who I don't think is the same person as the one on g+ with the same name)

This is a google translation fixed up by me. Since this isn't my text I preferred to stay as close to the original as possible, even if it could have been better with more 'artistic freedom'.

This is pretty much what it is like for us. Nothing to complain about.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The winning team
I'm not going to rub it in, but I'm a white, Norwegian, heterosexual man. And am I ever asked to renounce anything? Never.

To all of you who have not tried it: Being a white, Norwegian, heterosexual man is almost like being invisible. Or, even better: powerful but anonymous. I think that should cover it pretty fine. White, Norwegian heterosexual men live a cool life.

If I were to choose again, as the American comedian Louis CK said, I had chosen exactly the same: It's amazingly stress-free to be white, I'm welcome everywhere. And being a man I need not worry about where I can walk in the evening, how much body hair I have or whether I'm going to get into my swimsuit this summer.

Being straight as well makes sure I never have to explain to people how it felt to discover that I like women, or when I found out, or if I am afraid that colleagues will find out. Being a white and heterosexual man is as close as the plant and animal kingdom comes a paid vacation.

Neutral as water
Blacks, however, are always made aware that they are black. Muslims are questioned if they think it's okay to crash airliners into buildings every spare moment. Women are asked how it feels to be a woman. Asked about how it is to have this job, as a woman, how is it to be so far away - as a woman?

If a moderate Muslim is asked about his sharialust 78 times, it may be that he does not just get tired and crabby, but also radicalized. This is what happens when you choose to be born special, and not as a white and regular guy - like me.

White men like me, we just are. We are as neutral as water. We are as obvious as a mountain. We have always been here, it is you who deviate from the norm.

Basement People
And now I'll tell you about one of the benefits of the program right there: There is so much we don't have to reject. Just think of Wolfgang Priklopil, who kept Natasha Kampusch trapped in a house in Austria for eight years. Or Josef Fritzl, who kept his own daughter trapped for 24 years. Or the third Austrian on the list, who kept his two daughters locked up for 41 years and used them as sex slaves. The Polish man who in 2008 was arrested after holding his daughter caught in six years.

We could go on while the nausea rises. But should we begin to draw some conclusions here, we could suggest that people like me - white, heterosexual, Christian men with roots in Europe - have a hang-up on keeping women trapped in the basement for years and use them as sex slaves.

But am I being asked to renounce any of this? Hardly. Will I be facing questions about what I really think about keeping women trapped in basements? Is anyone talking to me on the bus and warning me about keeping on like that, just because others from where I come from do it?

Be like us guys
Nix Pix. That's what's so lovely about being a white man: No one prompts you to distance yourself from anything. Neither the British colonies or King Leopold's torture regime in the Belgian Congo or Nazi Germany or sex-abuse in the Catholic Church or, to take a more homely example, the thousands of ordinary Norwegian men beating up their wives.

For some reason, someone found out that none of this is something I really need to answer for.

I find this approach absolutely beautiful. So to all you gays, Africans, Muslims and women out there: Test life as a white, heterosexual man instead of that minority-nonsense. Be as normal as possible, like us guys.

I guarantee you, this; you're not going to regret it.
http://www.nrk.no/ytring/pa-vinnerlaget-1.11080571

Finally summertime.

Finally summertime.

It's nice with everything in bloom in my garden. :-)

#IveShownYouMineNowYouShowMeYours

Meet Odin

Meet Odin

A young raven that seems to have been left by his (her?) Parents.

Too young to be afraid of people. Always hungry. Loves dog food.

Anyone out there with practical advice?

This could also point at some understanding of certain mental conditions? When the focus locks out too much?

This could also point at some understanding of certain mental conditions? When the focus locks out too much?

Originally shared by Betsy McCall
http://natmonitor.com/2013/05/24/high-iq-linked-to-ability-to-ignore-distractions-study-finds/

overtramp i noobsonen i bergen - ordnes i minnelighet.

overtramp i noobsonen i bergen - ordnes i minnelighet.

2 enlightened-spillere (gjester, antar jeg) har 'oppgradert' hele øvingsområdet i bergen. enlightened-spiller helheim har tilbudt å refundere all XMP-bruk for å rydde opp dersom en high-level resistance-spiller tar på seg jobben. En veldig fin gest som vi setter pris på.  Øvingsområdet er jo svært nyttig for begge sider.

Det er godt noen tullinger blir tatt.

Det er godt noen tullinger blir tatt.

Originally shared by Jaz Emminger
http://jalopnik.com/woman-brags-about-hitting-cyclist-discovers-police-als-509059331

Just reading this hurts.

Just reading this hurts. Even for someone who has had a relatively normal childhood. How must it be for all of those who have been through it?

Yes, I have seen families like this. Situations where the children in a family respond in ways that clearly indicate something is wrong, but you only see them for a few seconds. And they are gone. You don't know a name, where they are from, nothing... 

Originally shared by Jane Rakali
http://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/crosspost-what-happened-when-i-called-the-cops-on-dad/

Title

Title

I recommend circling Linux Advocates, as Dietrich Schmitz does a good job getting some knowledgeable linux users to...

I recommend circling Linux Advocates, as Dietrich Schmitz does a good job getting some knowledgeable linux users to write fresh and original content. You will not see copy&paste news on Linux Advocates.

If you agree with me that this is a worthwhile cause you may even want to donate a little to keep them operating.

Originally shared by ****
http://www.linuxadvocates.com/2013/05/what-value-does-linux-advocacy-have.html

The ISS is pure awesomeness.

The ISS is pure awesomeness. And commander Chris Hadfield has really given the space station a complete makeover in the PR department. Every posting he has made is amazing.

And then he tops it all with this. I hope david bowie hears this one.

Originally shared by Scott Lewis

[+] Ground Control to Commander Hadfield [+] 

I think I love Chris Hadfield right now... 

You know you're an amazing person when you're singing David Bowie's Space Oddity from the International Space Station. I don't have any words to express how amazing this is. 

Edited to Add: Oh and a HUGE Tip of the hat to Liz Krane, for her stream is where I first saw this. Thanks Liz!

#ISSserenade   #ScienceSunday   #Space  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo

Well said.

Well said.

Originally shared by Jennifer Bailey

Just saw this.

Look! It's curiosity!

Look! It's curiosity!

One of my favorites back when i was a kid, a tv was black&white, it took 5 miinutes to turn it on, there was only one channel and childrens programs got 30 minutes each day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HArUmqqiL0s

She was hungry, so we fed her.

She was hungry, so we fed her. Didn't notice it was past midnight. Then she had to pee, and it was raining outside - and now there are two of them!

Hi, ich bin Julian Assange.

Originally shared by M. Jacobse

Hi, ich bin Julian Assange. Ich versorge die Öffentlichkeit mit privaten Informationen über Konzerne und Regierungen - gratis. Ich bin ein Bösewicht.

Hi, ich bin Mark Zuckerberg. Ich versorge Konzerne und Regierungen mit privaten Informationen über Dich und Millionen anderer Einzelpersonen - gegen Geld. Ich bin vom Time Magazine zum Mann des Jahres ernannt worden.

via #occupyportland - thanks! when are we going to change that?? #occupy