If you are not aware due to some internet sites "Blackouts" yesterday, you should be aware of what is going on.

The Free and Open Internet may become a thing of the past if certain eejits get thier way in US Congress. Just who are these foreign bamsticks to meddle in regulating in what other Countries do regarding the Internet at any rate?

Do I detect the lurid odour of greed and the frentic clambering noises of control freakery from within?

The internet to the public is a wealth information, education and entertainment. It's a benchmark invention thats given freedom to many repressed masses. Arab Spring?

Information to a certain element of these useless, yet dangerous Congress lamers is seen a another method of generating money and power. Ain't it just so like US Congress to go sniffing after it.

Well, brainboxes of the USA a supposed civilized and FREE country, if piracy is an issue develop the software to combat it. I will even offer my assistance, for a appropraite fee, of course. After all if you lot could put some gezzers on the moon with little more than a 1960's pocket calculator, any kid with a playstation could develop anti-piracy countermeasures:)


See here, for some details.

Congress Meddling

Rabbie if they could charge us for air we breath these days they would. Let's hope we bite back soon and very hard.

Rabbie,as far as Im concerned it was always going to happen.China has already throttled it and now we are getting to the stage where the Land of the Free will do the same if the content does not fit their agenda and all the ISPs will be powerless to do anything about it.The ability to download anything is out and it can never be put back.Its like giving a child a toy and telling him not to play with it.

I saw that some sites were down yesterday in protest but didnt really know why so thanks for letting me know. Sounds like they are going to use piracy to reduce our rights on the internet just like these stupid politicians use terrorism to curb our rights in the real world.

Looks like President Obama has torpedoed the proposed SOPA legislation, following the wave of protests.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2...cy-legislation/

A reprive for now, Alex. However, this issue will prolly keep resurfacing and given a different policital landscape in the Whitehouse when Obama gets the boot, who knows what will transpire.

For those not in the know and dinnea ken thier SOPA's from PIPA'S and what is all the fuss aboot?

See here <~~ SOPA & PIPA

When I was stationed in Marham, Norfolk (where we had real aeroplanes Rabbie ) Some councilor in Kings Lynn who couldn't finish The Sun crossword ... and had to pass his time some other way ... found an ancient day-light law still on the books and billed a citizen for 12/- @ 1/- per year, for the daylight which came into his house through a window which bordered on a public park.
He refused to pay and the council sent two tradesmen to erect two posts in the public park adjacent to his window and boarded the whole thing up. Local students at Kings Lynn Uni, tore the whole thing down when they read about it in the Daily Mirror and the council sent two tradesmen back to replace it. Cost of man-hours, materials and transport vastly outweighed the 12/- demanded by the council ... plus wading through the complaints of the extraordinary stupidy; excercised by the shiney, which had flooded the council office.
So there is a precedent, Melody.

Funny you should mention that light tax Tomi. Noo then was there no a window tax in Scotland? If you look aroond some of the aulder buildings you can see where windows would have been all bricked up!

Marham eh, namedropper!

Talkin' about windows, Rabbie, when I was at school (yes I was and never plugged a day to go fishin' in the Clyde like you did ) we had a Social Studies teacher who explained the origin of that word. When our ancestors used to live in wee mud huts up in the hielans at a time when glass hadnae been invented, they used to have wee holes in the walls to keek through tae make sure that people; probably Vikings, wurnae sneekin' up on them. When they keeked through these wee holes they'd a get a wee draught in their eyes ... are ye there noo? Wind-eye! Get it?
Whether he was talkin' through another wee hole or not ... well, we'll just have tae Google Wikipedia when it's back on line tae check that wan oot.

Rabbie, there are several buildings where the window went over two floors to save paying tax for two windows. Sure there's an example of one on the Loch Lomond road.

Aye Ash, pretty sure there will be plenty still around that havnea been flattened yet.

Here is a wee example here, which was my auld Country Residence. The previous occupants, The Stirling's / Stuarts of Castlemilk must have been real tight arses, some of the the ground floor windeas are bricked up.

I can tell you without looking it up, 'cause I'm sad that way with language, but it's close enough. In Old English a window was an 'eagthirl' or eye-hole, from the OE thirl meaning a hole, a word that survives in nostril = nose-hole, the middle letters of thirl having become transposed over time. (The same thing has happened to the word 'bird', which used to be 'brid'.) Whether it was a hole for keeking out at possible attackers may be more fanciful, for a 'window' was originally a hole in the roof, not the wall, and the word window has almost certainly been imported from Scandinavia.

Interesting interpretation, Alex. Goes to show English is such a bastardization of many languages, a fact that JRR Tolkien used to good advantage to create his Middle Earth. A virtual little England full of wee hairy ersed nyaffs and other unsavoury things, just like the real place. Obviously, a man of great vision.

Nothin' sad there Alex.
My big German mate Mick studed English and Germanic at Basel Uni and during that wonderful era we'd get into all night discussions over certain words which just found their way into our conversation leading to the coffee table being littered with books and Mary retiring early to bed.
One of his professors once asked him which Scottish friend was he picking up his English from because he was starting to develop an accent.
When he needed to spend a certain amount of time in an English speaking land I sent him over to live with my son for 3 months ... in Lincolnshire (where the people 'ave 'airs on their harms )