ACTA = the new SOPA

Just when you thought it was safe to share your files again:

WTF CIA

The CIA's formed a unit to examine the damage caused by WikiLeaks, and they're calling it WTF.

Free Zed Bias - LOTS of Zed Bias.

Very Very Much blog (the online home of Joe Muggs) has an exclusive interview with British garage/dub legend Zed Bias up just now, and it's really worth a read. But not only do they have an interview, they have a Soundcloud set with 20 unreleased ZB productions dating from 1998 to 2000 too. This is like beyond awesome! Well done sirs.


Zed Bias - 'LOST DATS ARCHIVE' volume 1 (Xmas Giveaway) by zedbias

Help Wikileaks - Sign this Petition

Wikileaks has been taking serious pelters very recently, being dropped as a client by hosts Amazon and EveryDNS, and being refused business with its funding portals MasterCard and PayPal (meaning they can't receive any donations). This sucks - legal experts agree that Wikileaks has done nothing against the law. Anonymous is launching DoS attacks on those sites mentioned above, but you too can do your bit by signing this petition. Yes, Wikileaks is only a website, but this is an issue that's going to impact on free speech, an unbiased media and basic democratic principles everywhere. To sign the petition, follow this link:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/97.php?cl_tta_sign=997e542a0d8fb9f80eb80536ac422359

1001 Albums You Should Die Before You Hear

From Collpase Board.




"Vote for your least favourite!

1. Kings Of Leon – Come Around Sundown
2. Zwan – Mary Star Of The Sea
3. Oasis – Be Here Now
4. Tin Machine – Tin Machine II
5. Chapterhouse – Blood Music
6. Mick Jagger – Primitive Cool
7. Pete Shelley – Sky Yen
8. Fanny – Charity Ball
9. The Very Best – Warm Heart Of Africa
10. The Style Council – Modernism: A New Decade"

More at http://www.collapseboard.com/1001-albums-you-should-die-before-you-hear-pt-1.

Sofabet.com predicts the X Factor

As much as I hate it (and hate to admit it), I have been drawn into this year's X Factor competition. Not for any particular reason other than it has been on, I have caught few episodes, and been sucked in. And, you know, sometimes it feels good to participate in the huge cultural happenings that bring us together as a nation. Sometimes.

The whole programme feels so scripted that it brings out my Fortean interest in conspiracy, in those dark and sinister forces controlling everyone's movement from behind the scenes. Bwahahah! So I went on a little internet search using terms like "x-factor" "Illuminati" "Fix" etc. Surprisingly there are very few "exposing the subliminal Illuminati symbolism of the X-Factor" type posts (my guess is that those people have been baited by Kanye West's "Power" video) but I have found one site that is incredibly canny at predicting X-Factor outcomes.

No, it's not a conspiracy site, it is a betting site that specialises in reality TV show competitions, how their odds work, and how you could make a bit of money from them. Ah, money. The root of all evil. Sofabet.com also cover those other well known hives of Masonic brainwashing called Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and the Eurovision Song Contest. Oh how our evil overlords cackle in our faces!



By following and focussing on,the money, Sofabet can give us a clearer picture of the interests at stake in X-Factor than practically anyone else. They are aware that the public vote can change outcomes in a show like this, but also that the producers of X-Factor have a very real agenda and they will do their best to see it come true. And that agenda has nothing to do with Baphomet or the Eye of Horus, and all to do with making their bank accounts expand.

Way back at the end of the summer, Sofabet drew out a series of rough guidelines of how to read the show. They have formulated a pretty simple set of factors that can help or hinder the contestant, and that can be relatively easily manipulated by the judges. So if you are serious about predicting the X Factor, or if you wanna try your luck at making a bit of money, start here, and learn about the importance of the contestants' running order, the reverse-psychology of the judge's comments. and the "sympathy bounce".

Sadly I think Wagner will go tonight, as he has served his purpose and can't be allowed to reach the final. While I would like to see him there, and even win outright, it's not going to happen as the "Vote Wagner" campaign is just not strong enough. Wand Erection will win the series, and join the ranks of JLS and The Wanted at the top of the charts, while the obviously talented Matt Cardle will come second. I'm still not sure as to whether Cher or Rebecca will come third, but I am guessing Cher, as Rebecca has not bloomed enough over the last few weeks to truly fit the "ugly duckling" narrative she was chosen for. She has a strong following though, so who knows.

If there is to be a repeat of last years "Killing In The Name" Xmas Number One campaign, I don't think Wagner is the one to do it. Neither is John Cage, sadly - the only hope of toppling a Wand Erection Xmas number one this year is if the Gamu campaign really takes off, but as she is quickly fading from public consciousness, I doubt that will happen either. And what of that Twitter leak? Making public the results of the phone vote? Well, Sofabet has an interview with the source of the leak, and it is very interesting. Follow the money folks...

Bye-byespace!

So Myspace has a new layout - well, as Shannon Doherty says in Mallrats: "too little too late". Incredibly, Myspace still seems to see itself as competing for the same market as Facebook and Twitter (both of which do their own job much better thank you), while not playing up the fact that practically everyone in the world of music is on there. I guess Murdoch and co are bricking it at the thought of losing tens of millions of users, which is understandable as Myspace's sole revenue stream is advertising. But you know, this was always going to happen! It will happen to Facebook and Twitter too, when brighter shinier toys come along.

What's most annoying is that all this "pimping up" only addresses surface level factors, and major fundamental flaws (such as the search engines) have not been touched. Also, the user's homepage is now actually more confusing than before, as there is nothing to distinguish adverts from actual functions. I would like to know who exactly team Myspace consulted about these so-called improvements. I certainly don't think it was anyone in the world of music.

It's a real shame - I have been a Myspace user for a good 5 years now, and made some great connections out of it, and I still feel that if streamlined correctly it would be the best site for the music business. But alas, when has Murdoch ever done anything that was in the public interest? I'm with Andrew Dubber on this one. They've truly jumped the shark.

Toy Story 3

I went to see Toy story 3 yesterday - suffice to say that I loved it, even the evil Lots-O'Huggin' Bear. All he really needed was somebody to love. Awww. Fans of the first two films will definitely like it, and there's quite a few genuinely moving moments among the stunning animation.

What makes me write this post however, is the work of the NY Press film critic Armond White. Mr White is taking a lot of pelters online at the moment for writing deliberately "contrarian" reviews where he hates films that everyone else loves, and vice versa. So much so, that there is a campaign to get his reviews banned form the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. He also gets quite ranty about non-professional online film criticism and how it cheapens his work.

Personally I don't think he should be banned from Rotten Tomatoes - opinions should be allowed to be expressed on the internet, contrarian or not. I think a quick read of some of Mr White's very badly written (and thought out) reviews should be enough to discredit him from the film review community, whether online or in print. Case in point:

Armond White reviews Toy Story 3

Cracked.com critiques Armond White's review of TS3

Case closed.

Loke WIlson

Loke Wilson is an electronic musician from Norway who now lives in Turkey. His music is like a cross between Giorgio Moroder and Vangelis, like epic kids cartoon themes by way of Alden Tyrrell. But it is his somewhat "naive" videos that are making him a hit on Youtube. Here's one, the bizarrely titled "Prune Slicker":



This is slowly building up to being a sensation. Yet while this ticks many boxes of perfect internet memedom I think it lacks the kind of self-delusion required to blow it up to superstar status. Some of the Youtube comments are quite telling - one poster can't believe that in the three years that "Prune Slicker" has been online, he/teh internetz has only just discovered Loke. Perhaps intenetz culture is not as fast moving and as all-knowing as its users would like to think? But his following in Italo and electro circles is growing because of the quality of the music, and his future as a true geek hero is assured.

Anyway, whatever happens, this music is good, Mr Wilson has a lot of charm (both naive and knowing) and if you would like to hear more of his music, then this Mediafire page has free download links to nine of his tracks.

Chatroulette

OK, so this is another thing I found on dangerousminds.net, but it deserves a post here too. It's an insane new site that connects computer users via webcams to chat with each other, but as the name suggests the person you get to chat to is totally random. It's a bit like speed dating - the people you chat too can change at any moment and the turnover is very fast. And you see a lot of odd stuff you couldn't show (or do) in a real speed dating scenario.* It's really not safe for work. Have a go yourself, you'll see how addictive it is.

http://chatroulette.com/



* if you are averse to seeing penises, then maybe it's not for you - but if people masturbating with soft toys makes you giggle, you'll love it.

"Happy Quit Myspace Day"

Here's an excellent blog post from Andrew Dubber about the major failings of Myspace. In a nutshell he thinks everyone should quit their profiles there, en masse, by October of 2010. There are plenty of suggestions in the comments section about where to go next - Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Muxtape and Reverbnation seem to be the favourites.

Dying Behemoths

“We must not let these dying behemoths take away someone’s internet access – and connection to the world – for some accusatory, unprovable ‘piracy’ claim, ever.”

Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor for Education, Channel 4

Alice, you just made my 'thank fuck for some people' list.
(Found via Sizemore's twitter.)

Mandy; Pawn of Satan

Mandelson was in the news a while back, after his oh-so innocuous holiday at the Rothschild's with Gaddafi Jr. and David Geffen. The decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi came after this meeting, so it's safe to assume this was more than a sunbathe and a blether. Mendacious Mandy also came home spouting copyright related nonsense, seemingly as the mouthpiece for Big Music. What a coincidence.
Michael Masnick of Techdirt doesn't think he got away with it, and has held some of his cack up for examination:
Peter Mandelson Defends His Sudden Conversion To Kicking People Off The Internet

We are living in a time when we can, and will, change these industries. Arm yourself with information, and never take the word of the majors or their spokesman.


(I realise this is a couple of weeks old but life has been on pause while I deal with Berlin related things. Anyway! the internet is a library as well as a newspaper, so it's fine.)