So ends the trials of TPB, accused of oh so much, guilty of nothing but greatness. For those who don't know what The Pirate Bay is, it is a website that is very well known for its index of torrents. I am a proud supporter of TPB, because what they have done is allowed the world access, legally, to various music files and what not. TPB is not the one ripping dvds, uploading various cracked software, or the ones who are giving away the free music. They are merely the ones who make it available for everybody to use it. But because it is practically impossible to stop torrents because individuals are the ones who upload them, companies must have somebody to blame. True, torrents cause artists and such to lose great deals of money because who would pay for things once they are able to get it for free? But the issue that stands here is net neutrality. Most Canadians aren't aware of the "battle" going on over net neutrality because the internet is a fairly free place in Canada. But no government can hold back a people who are willing to fight for whatever they can get. Bill C-61 was introduced around 1 or 2 years ago, and it was supposedly the Canadian version of the DMCA. The bill has barely scratched the lives of everyday Canadians, because nobody took it seriously. I strongly believe that the government will never be able to control or stop copyright infringement until the day they just cut down internet, which will never happen. I am positive that at least 60% of the people who own computers and have internet, have some sort of illegal software on it. Companies constantly try to create access control technologies to hinder the people in distributing illegal cds, software, etc. But there are always people out there who will crack such controls, such as DRM, which has become almost obsolete. The point here is that there will always be people out there who are better than the government, people who risk their lives to do things so that we will be able enjoy free software. Such people deserve to be recognized for their work, true modern day Robin Hoods.

Spheres

Another work of art by Daniel.

A friend's car design

Here are some pictures of a car designed by a friend, Daniel Lu . Click on the image to enlarge.

Clean?

       Hmm I have many things to blog about but I usually just never get to doing it because I am just so darn lazy. So today I have decided to blog about cleanliness and my sorta-not-really Bacteriaphobia. I think that since we are living in the age of technology, being scared of germs on surfaces should only be a silly scare. Like cmon, we have ray guns that can blast anything to pieces. But yet we still have washrooms that don't have automatic machines. (Long sentence warning) It really bugs me when you have to open the door with your hand that is dirty, go washroom, then flush with that dirty hand which touched the doorknob, then go to the sink and turn the knobs with that dirty hand which touched the dirty doorknob which touched the dirty flush lever, then to realize that after washing your hands you have to touch the germ infested sink knob to turn it off, and then to press the lever for some paper towels, and then to open the door to get out. That entire cycle just gets more germs on the door handle per person, and I'm sure the number of bacteria on the door handle to the washroom increases exponentially. This cycle could be easily avoided by just placing automatic flushers, automatic sinks, and automatic paper dispensers, and perhaps leaving the door open.

25 Random Facts

So I have ingeniously directed this facebook chain note thingy to my blog so I can get more hits :D. So here are some random facts that I wrote, not Christina Dao.

1. I think British accents are hot, such as Lily Allen's.

2. I am still waiting for the day 1 million dollars will drop from the sky (I dream about this everyday_

3. I made a bet with Shoujun that in 80 years, if the world does not end, he will give me 10% of whatever he owns. So I'm hoping he's a billionaire by then, and also that we both live that long.

4. I cannot sleep more than 8 hours, and usually not past 10am

5. Most of my time on the internet consists of reading blogs and visiting forums. I also visit www.ncix.com everyday.

6. My computer has over $10000 worth of software.

7. I have unlimited texting on my phone, which allows me to text and bug people during class whenever I am bored

8. I enjoy listening to classical music, but I really like UK music. Then again I have a wide variety of music on my computer. I think I'm open to all types of music as long as it makes me feel good.

9. Someday I wish to be rich and enjoy life like Richard Branson. He seems like such a chill guy, although I guess having lots of money is a good reason to be happy.

10. All types of sports interest me, but I don't have enough time to follow them all so I usually just wait till playoffs and such before watching. I follow hockey most closely, but I also follow basketball, golf, american football, and european football(soccer).

11. I think the 2010 winter Olympics is not worth all the trouble it will cause for our city. Sure having the Olympics is a great honour and all, but the debt will be huge, and it will be us having to pay it off in the end. Living in Vancouver is already expensive, with stupid taxes and all, why make it even more expensive?

12. I hate Internet Explorer, and I think anybody who uses it is a computer illerate retard.

13. Enjoy playing various sports such as badminton, basketball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, football, ping pong (I am not pro at any). If I could be amazing at any one sport, I think i would choose golf, since its like the easiest to make loads of cash doing barely anything.

14. I am in Army Cadets, which has given me lots of opportunities to experience the world. So far I have travelled to quebec, ontairo, and the UK, all through the cadet program, and all for free.

15. I have 16 days to decide whether or not I want to switch into Engineering. It is a true dilemma and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. It seems everything is just Med School in Sciences..

16. I built my current computer from scratch and I am quite proud of it. As you can see in the picture in the blog post below, I am running dual monitors and it is fantastic.

17. I like cars. Especially expensive cars.

18. My house does not have cable, so the only things that are on tv are the 8 free channels that we get. But it is sufficient because I have the internet and that is all I need to watch everything.

19. I wish I was really good at cooking, or had to time to practice and learn. I enjoy watching cooking shows such as Hells Kitchen, which makes me want to be a chef.

20. One of my life goals is the win the lottery (before jennifer if she reads this).

21. I love eating food. Im always wanting to go out and eat and try new things.

22. I would be very very very grateful if you could click those links at the side so I can get money :D

23. I cannot play any instrument :( I plan on learning something before I die.

24. Currently I am starting to learn how to use AutoCad to start designing buildings and such. I wish I had more free time to play around with things so I could learn more things :(

25. This random thingy took me longer than I thought it would take, I guess I am not good at finding "random" facts. And I have also found out that I made a lot of grammar mistakes and I shall blame that on me being not able to type as fast as I can think, therefore missing words.

Zen of driving

So it seems that I am not a particularly good driver because I am not one with the car. According to my driving instructor. So I've had around 10 hours of driving, and it seems the past 4 hours have been the same thing. I haven't really improved because all my instructor does is yell at me because I make mistakes. I should be "feeling what the car is doing" while "sensing the environment around me." He constantly repeats that tell me that is why I am not an amazing driver (yet). With my road-test coming up in a 3 weeks, I wonder if I will ever master the zen of driving.

On another note, my desktop set-up now includes a 23" monitor, running with my 19" :D. Pics when I finish my chem lab report and go and get the camera.