So Demand Progress is back need help against CISPA

This is another new internet privacy act. You can vote on demand progress against it, here is the info from demand progress:

Friends, Did you hear that CISPA is back? The misguided, anti-privacy bill -- defeated last year by a huge public outcry -- has been reintroduced in Congress. The new version of the bill would allow private companies to share our personal data with the government, other companies, and private agencies like the MPAA. Click here to join me in standing up to this assault on internet privacy: http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/cispa_is_back/?referring_akid=2004.322082.UIwE_R&source=taf They don't need a warrant, and companies who share your information are given immunity from all pre-existing privacy laws! No wonder companies like AT&T and Verizon have already signed on in support. Click here to tell congress NO to CISPA: http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/cispa_is_back/?referring_akid=2004.322082.UIwE_R&source=taf Supporters of CISPA -- like its sponsor Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger -- have said they can't see any reason why businesses needed to hide your personal data from the government. They don't get it. Like last time, we need to take a stand against violations of our basic rights to privacy. Please join me in calling on Congress to oppose CISPA: http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/cispa_is_back/?referring_akid=2004.322082.UIwE_R&source=taf Read More

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Windows 8 Release Preview with Apps

Today I got fed up with things like explorer not refreshing properly in windows 7, some programs not running properly, crashing, spending days trying to just get a mouse to work (Microsoft Intellipoint problems...), so I decided to install the windows 8 release preview.

This install process took no longer than 15 minutes from the moment I pressed the power button. The install took just over 10 minutes, then it started asking the usual first time set-up questions.

So, after 15 minutes I was then finally presented with this:
Read More

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Samsung Galaxy S3 - Preorder

Samsung Galaxy S3

The Next Samsung Galaxy has arrived. The Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone is hotly tipped to be the smartphone of 2012. The 4.8 inch high definition display with Super AMOLED technology screens your movies in stunning detail.
Combining the latest Android Ice Cream Sandwich with a 1.4GHz quad core processor, the Samsung Galaxy S3 lets you multitask extensively upon a responsive and easily customisable user interface. Take photos using the 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording and share to your friend seamlessly across your favourite social networking sites. With a 16GB internal memory and cloud storage, access to your favouite multimedia to keep you entertained on the go. For those who desire the premium smartphone of 2012, choose the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Pre-order you Samsung Galaxy SIII now. Due out end of May 2012 from various places. Read More

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UK George Osborne's Budget March 2012

• From April 2013, the 50p top rate of tax will be cut to 45p.
• Personal income tax allowance raised to £9,205 from April 2013
• 40% tax band threshold is reduced from £42,475 to £41,450.
• Age-related income tax allowances to be removed for new pensioners from April 2013
• Child Benefits phased out when someone in a household has an income of more than £50,000. It will fall by 1% for every £100 earned over £50,000.
• Borrowing this year to be £126bn - £1bn less than forecast in the autumn
• OBR forecasts unemployment to peak this year at 8.7% before falling each year to 6.3% by 2016-17.
• From midnight, new stamp duty level of 7% for homes worth more than £2m. Any homes bought through companies will pay 15%.
• Corporation tax cut to 24% from next month. By 2014 it will fall to 22%.
• Consultation on simplifying the tax system for small firms with a turnover of up to £77,000.
• Tax relief for the video games, animation and high-end television production sectors.
• Relaxation of Sunday trading laws on eight Sundays during Olympics and Paralympics, starting July 22.
• Cost of operations in Afghanistan to be £2.4bn less than expected.
• Money saved will provide an extra £100m to improve military accommodation.
• Government evidence to be published on the case for regional public sector pay.
• "Major package of tax changes" to boost oil and gas extraction in North Sea, along with £3bn new field allowance west of Shetland.
• Duty on all tobacco products to rise by 5% above inflation from 6pm today - the equivalent of 37p on a packet of cigarettes.
• New duty on gaming machines at a standard rate of 20% and a lower rate for low-prize machines of 5% of net takings.
• No change to existing plans on fuel duty - a 3.02p per litre increase will go ahead on 1 August. Vehicle excise duty to rise by inflation, but frozen for road hauliers.
• Funding for superfast broadband and wi-fi in the UK's 10 largest cities. to be more like developed areas such as Tokyo, France..
• Bank levy to be increased to 0.105% from January 2013 "to ensure that corporation tax cuts do not benefit the banks". The levy will raise £2.5bn a year.
• VAT loopholes and anomalies to be removed - including removing exemptions for sports nutrition drinks and hot takeaway products in supermarkets.

Read More / Source: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17449501 Read More

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HTC One X pre order for April

The HTC one x is now available for pre-order for expected launch in April 2012. It can be found here: in many places now

Information from HTC.com:

Extraordinary quad-core power gives you lightning-fast web browsing, remarkable picture quality and hyper-realistic gaming effects --all on a giant, 4.7-inch HD screen. Then there's the amazing camera that captures every moment with crisp, vivid, beautiful photos.

Size:	134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm
Weight:	130 grams with battery
Display:	HD 720p touch
Screen:	4.7-inch (1280 x 720 resolution)

Read More

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CHEAPER PETROL AND DIESEL, BY ROBERT HALFON MP AND FAIRFUEL UK

From the e-petition:

"

Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury

High petrol and diesel prices are crippling our economy.

Many motorists now pay a tenth of their income just to fill up the family car, and millions of families are suffering.

Businesses are under immense pressure, especially the road freight industry. But petrol and diesel are now so astronomically expensive, it is COSTING the Government money. This is because fewer people can afford to drive, leading to lower tax revenues.

Therefore, this petition calls on the Government to:

1) Scrap the planned 4p fuel duty increases, which are scheduled for January and August 2012.

2) Create a price stabilisation mechanism that smooths out fluctuations in the pump price.

3) Pressure big oil companies to pass on cheaper oil to motorists.

4) Set up a Commission to look at market competitiveness, and radical ways of cutting fuel taxes in the longer term.

"

You can sign this / view the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/347

Source: http://epetitions.direc... Read More

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Tiger bread renamed giraffe bread by Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's is renaming its tiger bread after a letter a three-year-old girl wrote to the company, saying the bread looked more like a giraffe, went viral.

In May 2011, Lily Robinson wrote to the supermarket, suggesting that the bread should be called giraffe bread.

She received a letter back saying that renaming it was "a brilliant idea".

Her mother posted the letters on her blog and after it again became a topic of conversation on social media sites last week, the bread has been renamed.

Lily's letter said: "Why is tiger bread called tiger bread? It should be called giraffe bread. Love from Lily Robinson age 3 and 1/2".

Chris King from the Sainsbury's customer services team wrote back: "I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea - it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn't it?"

But he went on to explain how it had got its name: "It is called tiger bread because the first baker who made it a looong time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly."...Read More


(Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/bus...) Read More

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What is ACTA? Where can I find out about ACTA?

The main points are:

• ACTA turns Internet companies (ISPs, service providers) into a private copyright police by forcing to take legal responsibility for what their users do online.
• ACTA brings broad and dangerous criminal sanctions in loosely defined way.
• ACTA bypasses democracy and opens the door to a parallel legislative process, which the European MPs should be particularly angry about.

(Source: www.laqua..)

More information can be found on ACTA here: http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/How_to_act_against_ACTA


What makes ACTA so controversial here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/access.3cdn.net/056c38bab9bf699e4e_rgm6iyv2t.pdf


You can sign a UK Petition on direct.gov here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20685
This needs 100,000 votes to be considered for House of Commons.


In the mean time, the following places can be contacted:

• INTA committee
• LIBE committee
• DEVE committee
• JURI committee
• ITRE committee

to get the message to European Parliment. Read More

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SOPA and PIPA have been shelved!

Several posts on other websites and twitter have come up, announcing that SOPA and PIPA have both been shelved.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is putting the PROTECT IP Act on hold. "In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act," he said in on twitter.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), a sponsor of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), followed and http://judiciary.house.gov/news/01202012.htmlannounced he would be delaying consideration of the legislation.

The idea behind these is likely to come back within a short period of time, however they are likely to be much more revised and probably wont be called SOPA and PIPA.

As proven yesterday with megaupload / megavideo, the acts aren't needed at the moment to take action. So the internet is safe for today, search engines can continue with their normal crawling, and socially generated sites (wiki, facebook, twitter.. etc) can stay as they are, the way the users like them. Read More

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Obama waves goodbye to SOPA

President Obama has stated that he will not support the Bill.
It has been decided that the house will revisit the bill next month, and that any future bills MUST be more narrowly focused.

“The voice of the Internet community has been heard,” said Issa. “Much more education for members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal.”- California congressman Darrell Issa

However, PIPA is still in line for later this month, and would still allow companies to sue on website copyright infringment.
Obama has come out against both bills. The white house response can be found Here. Read More

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