Mugre Rocks!

So I am going through my "Camera Roll" and found this picture of Mugre
(my cousin's dog) and I. Mugre's eyes are awesome! Sara took this
picture at the memorial day BBQ at my cousin's, but I never bothered
reviewing it. I'm going to have to send this to my cousins.

P.S. Now that I looked it over once more, Mugre kind of looks sad. I
think this is when I turned her away from all the tasty treats on the
grill.

Orthodontist

Went to the orthodontist today. This was the view from my chair. I
would have sent this out earlier, but I was to busy holding my lip as
a new bracket they put in settled in place. I barely managed to take
this photo. But I just downloaded an iPhone app called snapture that
made taking it much easier. It allows me to touch anywhere on the
screen to take the picture, rather than just a small, designated
button by default.

Okay, so this post is a little mundane.
Why do I have time to be blogging you may ask? Well, I am currently at
a remote site watching over a Service Pack 2 installation and this is
really all I can do at the moment while it loads. I am currently at
the "Performing Cleanup" part of the install, hopefully it finishes
soon so I can get on with the other things I need to do to this
computer.

Flamingoes

San Diego Zoo Parking

This is a watch tower in the San Diego Zoo parking lot. I am currently
waiting for a mother to change her child's diaper so I can take her
parking spot. Parking is horrible here. Time to go, she's backing out.

In San Diego!

This is my girlfriend Sara and our friend Homer. We're at a bar in San
Diego called the Whistle Stop in the neighborhood of South Park for
Sara's cousin's birthday.

Shopping at Costco

Shopping at Costco for the first time today with my very own Costco
card.

I guess it works.

Now that I can blog from my iPhone maybe I'll satrt updating more. Then I can rename my blog to "Bongo's Sporadically Updated Blog." Maybe I can use intermittently or periodically or even occasionaly. As you can see thesauruses are very useful.

iPhone Blogging Test

Just testing blogging from my iPhone.

RIAA Sues Homeless Man

Really RIAA? A homeless man?

"So far we've had grandmothers, dead people, disabled single mothers, and today, we can add another category to the list of those targeted by the RIAA: the homeless."

Full article here.

Are you a Marvel comic book fan?

Okay first off, new Hulk movie called The Incredible Hulk.

Secondly, check out who else is in the cast, as Tony Stark; that's right, Robert Downey Jr. Why is that important? 'Cause if you haven't already heard, he's playing Tony Stark aka Iron Man, in the new Iron Man movie.

On top of all that check out these movies in production: Nick Fury, Captain America, Thor

I thought to myself, "Aren't those all Avangers characters?" Yes, yes they are. Marvel has also announced an Avengers movie! In The Incredible Hulk movie wiki, "Marvel Studios is keen to have Norton reprise the role in an adaptation of The Avengers. Iron Man director Jon Favreau said "[Marvel is"> pretty clear on wanting to do it with the actors who’ve established the roles or to not do it at all.""

For a full Marvel Movie Line-Up.

Could it be, an ensemble cast of Marvel Super Heroes? ... damn, i think i just wet myself.

Wow, I forgot I even had this blog.

Okay, wow. Almost 2 years without an update. :/ Well, I guess that's in part to all the social networking sites out there. I mean, who really reads this blog anyways? Just my friends; even so, my friends don't really read this; they'd rather get my daily babbles in the same place they login every day, those social networking sites. They can read my blogs on the SN sites we belong to. Maybe I'll start updating here more often though, now that I've gone and deleted all my SN accounts, save Facebook. I guess I really just update this for myself. A sort of time capsule if you will. I just went back and read my previous posts, what little I have, and saw what I cared about 2 years ago. So really, the only reason why it took so long to update is a lack of interest.

Maybe this post is a new found interest, or maybe it's just nostalgia.

Lecturer Censored in Spanish University

as seen on www.boingboing.net
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/05/20/spanish_copyright_so.html

Lecturer censored in Spanish University (UPV) for defending P2P networks
Date Created: 20 May, 2005, 09:15 AM

[Upon the request of various foreign media that would like to cover this story, and would like a link to the source in English, here is a recap of my ordeal]

This what happened to me when trying to defend the legal use of P2P networks in Spain.

I have been teaching "Intellectual Property" (although I dislike the term) among other subjects at a Masters Degree in the Polytechnic University of Valencia UPV (Spain) for over 5 years. Two weeks ago I was scheduled (invited by the ETSIA Student Union and Linux Users' Group for the celebration of "Culture Week") to give a conference in one of the university's buildings. During that conference I was to analyze the legal use and benefits of the P2P networks, even when dealing with copyrighted works (according to the Spanish Intellectual Property Law, Private Copy provision, and many research papers, books and court rulings). I was even going to use the network to "prove" that it was legal, since members of the Collecting Society "SGAE" had appeared on TV and newspapers saying that "P2P networks are ilegal" (sic) just like that, and to that extent I even contacted SGAE, National Police, and the Attorney General in advance to inform them about it.

The day before the conference, the Dean (pressured by the Spanish Recording Industry Association "Promusicae" as I found out later, and he recognized himself in a quote to the national newspaper El Pais, and even the Motion Picture Association of America, as another newspaper quotes) tried to stop it by denying permission to use the scheduled venue. So I scheduled a second one, and that was denied again. And a third time. Finally I gave the conference on the university cafeteria, for 5 hours, in front of 150 people.

Later on that day (May 4th, I will never forget), I received a call from the Director of the Masters Degree Program where I was teaching telling me that the Dean had called and had asked him to "make sure I did not teach there again", and on a second call saying "it's your choice, but also your responsibility".

The Director called me and first asked me to remove any link to the university from my website, and also to "hide" the fact that I was teaching there. Then he told me about the pressures and threats he and the Program received (to be subjected to software licenses inspection, copyright violations inspections, or anything that may damage them). Obviously I had to resign to save his job (and everybody else's at the Masters Program). So I did.

But even after I had resigned, when the media (which started to pay attention to the case, as you can see in the attached links) called, the Vice-Dean of communications had the nerve to say that "I was never a teacher in that University, and I only taught a few classes". Sure I was not a Professor (which I never said I was), but I taught several subjects there for over 5 years!

It is not so important that I lost my job even though my ratings from the student satisfaction questionnaire were the highest of the whole Program, and I never violated any rule, contract, or regulation. I don't even mind so much that I never received a direct phone call from anyone objecting to my ideas or procedures. What I regret the most is to have suffered CENSORSHIP inside my own university (in a European Union member state, of all places on earth), and as a result of pressures and threats coming from Collecting Societies and Recording and Movie Industries (on my website you have proof of all that).

When are we going to do something about it? We can't let them impose their failed, outdated, and inefficient business model through threats, pressures and silence. We must speak out. I am wiling to travel the world (as I am doing now in conferences all over Spain) to tell my story, and they will not silence me. The truth has to be known. But I need your help.

This story has already been covered by over 400 Spanish bloggers, national radio stations, magazines and newspapers. But nobody seems to have noticed this outside Spain. Could you please help me spread the word outside Spain?

Should you require any further information, do not hesitate to let me know.

Best regards, and Thank you very much in advance,

Jorge Cortell
jorge (at) cortell (dot) net
jorgecortell (at) mac (dot) com

This website with a lot of information (in Spanish) regarding this issue (including transcripts, screen captures and other proofs):
http://jorge.cortell.net

Particularly:
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041021114344/LHA20050505142849/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041021114344/LHA20050428093531/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041117170647/LHA20050505191504/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041117170647/LHA20050505205536/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041117170647/LHA20050510142036/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041117170647/LHA20050504193150/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041117170647/LHA20050504095812/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041021114344/LHA20050507235615/index.html

List of Blogs that follow the issue:
http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&url=Cortell

Audio of the conference (recorded outdoors):
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041021114344/LHA20050504184022/index.html

Media coverage.-

NEWSPAPERS:

El Pais (National Newspaper, paid subscription required):
http://www.elpais.es/articulo.html?d_date=&xref=20050512elpcibenr_4&type=Tes&anchor=elpcibred#articulo

El Mundo (National Newspaper):
http://www.elmundo.es/navegante/2005/05/04/esociedad/1115222036.html

20 Minutos (National Newspaper)
http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/22543/0/Politecnica/musica/publico/

NEWS SITES:

Barrapunto (Spanish Slash Dot):
http://barrapunto.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/04/0629243&mode=nested

Noticias dot com:
http://www.noticias.com/index.php?action=mostrar_articulo&id=65103&seccion=Cultura%20y%20Ocio&categoria=&IDCanal=1

Consumer Magazine:
http://www.consumer.es/web/es/tecnologia/2005/05/09/141815.php

Libertad Digital:
http://www.libertaddigital.com/noticias/noticia_1276251087.html

Spanish NetCitizens Association
http://www.internautas.org/html/1/2897.html
http://www.internautas.org/html/1/2913.html

Indymedia Barcelona:
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/178812/index.php

RADIO:

COPE national radio (interview):
http://homepage.mac.com/jorgecortell/blogwavestudio/LH20041021114344/LHA20050516145400/Media/LHA20050516145407.zip

Radio 87Mhz (conference):
http://sindominio.net/radio87mhz/


ENGLISH SPEAKING BLOGS:

English speaking blogger:
http://www.protozoo.com/index.php?postId=78

Another English speaking blogger:
http://ayk.textamerica.com/?r=2483560


And many more links:
http://piezas.bandaancha.st/docs/cortell.html