HTNet

When I previously read this post over at T. Longren’s, my initial thoughts was “WTF? Cohen doesn’t need the extra pain of having to deal with the RIAA, MPAA, BSA, etc.”. IMHO, he would be much better off just concentrating on advancing the technology, rather than the implementation.

It seems that Cohen has gone ahead with the plan anyway. You can play around with the search engine. However, when I tried it out, it seems to be stuck searching forever. Probably a result of the slashdotting.

By coincidence, or some freak chance, the next article on Slashdot highlights the FBI’s operation of shutting down a central web site used to coordinate all file-sharing activity on the (now defunct) Elite Torrents network.

I was reading this article on hackers locking files and demanding ransom for unlocking it, which somehow eerily reminds me of this recent post I’ve read on Weblog Tools Collection. At the time of the hack, this was how the Pictorialis Forums looked like. Is this a sign of what the darker side of technology has in store for the future?

Nowadays, data is worth lots of money. It also took lots of time, money and effort to compile it into useful information. It sickens me to see those who happens to find a script or two to hijack this data and later demand payment to restore it to the original owners.

In life beyond the networks and packets, similar people are called kidnappers or thieves. And there, they are usually punished severely for their crime (depending on where you live, YMMV).

One of the sticking point of Linux is that in the industry, it is yet to be fully seen as a mature platform, ready for real world implementations. The perception of Linux is still mind-warped to the early 90s, which tends to label Linux as a hobbyist OS.

Fact 1: Linux is very much ready for real world tasks. Fact 2: It is already adopted as a core business and/or operational platform by many organisations. Fact 3: Linux is severely undermarketed and its uptake by organisations tend to be mostly for tech-intensive duties where nobody outside of the technology diaspora can take notice.

Linux Magazine has chosen not to accept the status quo, and is running a series of publications highlighting the application of Linux solutions in key areas, namely; Government, Retail, and Telecoms.

Thanks to OSNews for the linkage.

This would be my first post in the Photoblog category. I actually ran out of ideas of what to write, so I thought, what the heck… I might as well upload some of the photos I took when I’m out and about.

To save bandwidth, I will post the pictures in the extended body of each posts. Therefore, people with no interest to view the pics need not read the rest of this entry.

Read the rest of Sunset at Danga Bay »

In the aftermath of an accident where 7 year old, Nur Salina Saparedi was killed, TV stations have been painted as “not practising proper ethiques” by Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin (he’s the ugly guy on the second last row, last picture).

Basically, this guy thinks that the coverage of the ensuing protests over the death of young Nur Salina, where some participants placed a coffin in the middle of the road shouldn’t be given such a priority to be aired on primetime. He said that the incident was “visually unpleasant” and “not normal”.

Well Datuk, losing a child who was needlessly killed in an accident is visually unpleasant and not normal.

Sometimes, I just feel that if only more Malaysian politicians at least try to use their brains a bit before talking, this country would be a much better place.

My deepest condolences go to the family and friends of Nur Salina.