Getting all commutey.
Ryan Bednar is a 20 something web enthusiast, developer & music geek
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At about 7 months the kitten becomes a Catten then 5 months later he has a cat mitzvah, bears full responsibility for his actions, receives 500$ worth of catfood and is Cat.
This guy sounds pretty cool.
I met a guy named John Crockett. This is his business card.
I’m tempted to say This is the future of business cards. But that’s silly. Business cards already seem anachronistic.
However, this strikes me as the future of self-actualization. I think people more often will understand and describe themselves as sets of granular expertises. Organizations that help people accredit themselves will usher this movement, I think.
Jeff the Brotherhood - Hey Friend (We Are The Champions, 2011)
We are the Champions is a great garage rock record and it’s super impressive to have such big sound coming from a duo.
I’ve been thinking about your mom
You can tell me if it’s really wrong
It’s been going on
for way too long
I can’t help it if I am happy
when she is around
Jeff the Brotherhood play at Maxwell’s in Hoboken on 2/9.
IT Crowd - Memory is RAM
Classic. (via Daniel Ahn)
Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.
MPAA head (and former U.S. Senator) Chris Dodd speaking to Fox News (as noted by Hillicon Valley).
I mean, he actually said this.
In one soundbite, he’s both threatening any and all U.S. politicians and implying that they’re corruptible. It’s a statement that so egregious, it’s hard to think of anything worse he could have said. Maybe: “if these guys don’t start supporting whatever we say, I’m going to hire some goons to fucking kneecap the bastards”.
But actually, that’s not worse. Because that doesn’t imply the politicians accept bribes (in the form of lobbying money) to support issues.
This is much, much worse than Dodd’s assclownish statement the other day. And it also shows that Dodd really, truly does not understand what’s going on — why people are so upset about these bills and the subsequent reaction to them, as Mike Masnick lays out perfectly.
Amazingly, this discussion is morphing beyond the destruction of the fabric of the Internet and into the underlying notion that our political system is fundamentally corrupt.
The MPAA should fire Chris Dodd immediately. Of course, they won’t — because in a year (when he’ll be far enough removed from his Senate term to officially lobby) he’ll be the best lobbyist ever. At that point, he’ll be able to do it behind the scenes (with people he served alongsides for decades), and not with fucked up statements like this.
(via parislemon)
Unbelievable.
(via parislemon)
Why was Megaupload shut down?
Ali Alkhatib: Ars Technica (as usual) has an excellent analysis of what’s going on (and why) here: http://arstechnica.com/tech-poli…
The reason seems to boil down to one issue, which is that they gave up the protection of “safe harbor” under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Safe Harbor
The DMCA is the main tool used by the MPAA, RIAA, and others to enforce copyright law, but it has a set of guidelines which outline what’s called a “safe harbor” for websites. Namely (in this case at least), a site is given some level of immunity if they’re not actually aware of the alleged copyright infringement on their site. If they’re aware of it and do nothing, they lose the protection of this provision in the DMCA. Ars points out that Youtube successfully used this defense in a $1b suit against Viacom.
The article indicates that Megaupload admins were not only aware of copyright content on the site, but complicit.
… the government asserts that … employees knew full well that the site’s main use was to distribute infringing content. Indeed, the government points to numerous internal e-mails and chat logs from employees showing that they were aware of copyrighted material on the site and even shared it with each other.
There’s more to the story (specifically regarding how the indictments are made murkier by some vague and seemingly meaningless charges), but I won’t regurgitate the whole article here. The article itself covers everything pretty well.
Why was Megaupload shut down?
I can’t believe that MegaUpload got shutdown today after coming out with such an awesome song, and also announcing that Swizz Beats is their CEO.
I was here with the rest of Tutorspree protesting SOPA/PIPA in midtown. It was cold. Midtown is a strange place.
nytm:
This photo really shows the scale of #nytmSOS today
(via innonate)
Amit, go kick cancer’s ass. We’re all rooting for you.
Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
- 8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.
- Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.
- Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.
- Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.
- 9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!
- Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.
TODAY
… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!
You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.
First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.
Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.
Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.
This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.
AFTER THE TRANSPLANT
Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:
- My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.
- Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.
- Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.
Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.
THE GREAT NEWS
I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.
I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thank you.
