Superfluous Rants

My friend Maliha’s forthcoming magazine “Films and Grains” has a website which went online last week. Check it out at http://www.filmsandgrains.com

Films and Grains is dedicated to the appreciation and exposure of analog photography.

One of the last remaining reliable file sharing program has been permanently shut down thanks to a court injunction. LimeWire has stopped distributing its software on its website as visitors are greeted by the following message:

"THIS IS AN OFFICIAL NOTICE THAT LIMEWIRE IS UNDER A COURT-ORDERED INJUNCTION TO STOP DISTRIBUTING AND SUPPORTING ITS FILE-SHARING SOFTWARE. DOWNLOADING OR SHARING COPYRIGHTED CONTENT WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION IS ILLEGAL."

LimeWire’s battle with the law started four years ago when the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed an infringement lawsuit on behalf of the eight major music publishers in the United States. In May 2010, Judge Kimba Wood found LimeWire liable and the RIAA made two separate motions – permanent shutdown of LimeWire and freezing of the company’s assets. As of yesterday, they have succeeded in the former, the latter is yet to be determined as the case resumes on January, 2011. LimeWire may have to end up paying as much as $1 billion in damages, if not more.

Meanwhile an instant buzz for alternatives to LimeWire have become prominent online. A list can be found here. Although, with the rapid advancement of broadband networks, I don’t see p2p programs sticking around in the distant future. I, myself, like many others I am sure, rely on torrents and direct downloads for file sharing needs.

In any case, LimeWire joins my own personal list of ex-file-sharing-programs which includes the illustrious pioneer Napster, the tedious IMesh, the notorious KaZaa and it’s illegitimate step brother K-Lite.

[PCWorld]

Sony Ericsson's much rumoured PlayStation phone has finally made its way to the internet. While nothing is oficially confirmed as of yet, the leaked prototype is shown to be running Android 3.0 and the design seems to be a carry over from Sony's PSP Go. Users can download games from Sony's Marketplace once the device is released in 2011. Hardware specs of the device include:

• 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor
• 512MB of RAM
• 1GB of ROM
• 3.7 to 4.1 inch capacitive touchscreen
• Slide out gaming key pad with multi-touch pad
• MicroSD card slot

[Engadget]

Good to see our new owner learning more about the sport and its supporters. So far he has come off as a genuinely dedicated individual looking to develop and enhance his investment.
Class! Unlike the gobshites he replaced.

So Liverpool was finally sold to John Henry and the New England Sports Ventures (NESV) today. A new era awaits my beloved club. But before I rejoice, I want to get something off my chest and I am angry.
I watched an interview by our now former owner, Tom Hicks after the failure of an injunction he sought to prevent the club from being sold. In the interview he said he was shocked and did not understand the fans’ anger. He claimed he sought the injunction so as to get Liverpool better multi-billionaire owners. He further added:

[The takeover has me] Shocked. Devastated. Frustrated. I'm very disappointed.
It's hurt my family tremendously. This is a very valuable asset that was swindled away from me in an epic swindle.
I'm very angry about it.

SWINDLE? You lying conniving twat. You talk of swindle? Where is the ground you promised us when you took over with your crony back in 2007? Every off-season your crony talked about how the shovel will be in the ground within 60 days in Stanley Park. Where is the fucking stadium?

Lets not forget how you burdened the club with your purchase loans and interest payments. At the end of your regime, Liverpool owed the Royal Bank of Scotland 237 million pounds. A debt that was thankfully cleared today due to NESV’s acquisition.
Do you remember what our debt was before you took over? I sure as hell do. 50 fucking million pounds. You lied to the fans. You promised us big transfers and a new stadium and you took out loans under the name of our prestigious club. All the while the club turned profits in almost every transfer window; received increased Champions League, media, sponsorship and commercial revenue. Yet, our debt increased steadily over the years. Where did the money go dipshit?

YOU DARE QUESTION OUR ANGER.

You talk about how you wanted to secure us a better owner. Someone of the likes of Abramovich or the Sheiks of Man City. You douche, how stupid and ignorant do you think we are. You don’t think we have been following what you were trying to do up until yesterday. Trying to sell your shares to a hedge fund (with possible links to you and your cronies) behind the board of directors so that the only serious contenders willing to takeover our club wouldn’t succeed. A board comprising of shrewd businessmen and NO official director of football. You hand picked these men because you knew they would get you what you wanted. The most return out of minimal investment, even if it meant running Liverpool to the ground.  Who gave a fuck about a director of football or anyone remotely  involved with the sport as long as your pockets were being lined.   
So when the directors finally decide to do something good for the club instead of just selling off assets for your gain, YOU CLAIM TO HAVE BEEN CHEATED. And you try to sanction the decisions of the very men picked by you to be in charge of the club’s best interests.
Are you under the assumption that everyone is as stupid as you and wont notice that you are ONE BIG FAT HYPOCRITICAL CUNT?

To top it all off you have the audacity to pursue further litigation through claims of damages of 1.6 billion dollars. Damages for what exactly? 
If anything your ass needs to be dragged through class action lawsuits by the kopites for your thievery.

FUCK OFF YOU DELUSIONAL GREEDY PIECE OF SHIT.
GOOD RIDDANCE.

The TTC unveiled its new subway trains named “Toronto Rocket” at Downsview station today. Developed by Bombardier; the trains feature six open cars from end-to-end with wider aisles, non-slip floors, electronic maps and brighter interiors. The new subway cars cost $236.7-million, paid by all three levels of the government. They also aim to reduce energy consumption. The TTC is hoping to have a few of the new trains running on the Yonge-University-Spadina line by the end of this year or early January next year. The full fleet is expected to be up by the year 2013.
It has been a big week for TTC as earlier they rolled out new features to their Trip Planner on the TTC website. Powered by Google Transit, the new Trip Planner is completely accessible on mobile devices. Commuters can now plan their trip from point A to point B with complete information such as transfer lines, wait periods and accessible options. As for the new trains, I like the open-end concept as I believe this will help in decreasing congestion and uninvited bumping and grinding from other commuters. There are obvious downsides to the concept as well. No longer can I ignore a person on the subway by getting on a different car haha.

I don’t think I have ever seen a more charismatic and enigmatic performer such as the dancing sooper-ishtar in the following video.
*Best enjoyed with herbal supplements*

So I have come to a decision on what to dress up as for Halloween this year.
A gun toting, bank robbing nun.
(Thank you, one of the best movies of the year!)

Just need to decide on what type of firearm to carry. An M-16 or a sawed off shotgun. Hmmm. Haha.