Dear @Wikileaks, You Just Lost A “Fan”

Being a libertarian I have been supportive of @Wikileaks right to leak information, as (truth be told) there is no major distinction between the @NYTimes and Wikileaks (despite my government’s insistence that Wikileaks is nothing more than a bunch of punks behind laptops).

However it looks like once again Wikileaks is crossing the line, which could turn the masses against them at a time when people were beginning to be sympathetic towards their cause.

The leaked cable reveals dozens of places on every continent, including mines, manufacturing complexes, ports and research establishments which the U.S. government consider locations “whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States.”
The cable is classified secret and not meant to be shared with non-U.S. personnel.  Now it is in the hands of individuals worldwide, including terrorists who could use it as blueprint of where to attack. (Daily Tech)

Great way to scare the masses into the “loving” arms of the government Julian, who will now use this latest leak to further erode freedom of speech (especially with the dreaded SHIELD bill coming down the pipeline).

But I guess that doesn’t matter in the long run as long as we are all “safe and secure,” liberties withstanding. If Wikileaks wants to win this fight, then they need to STOP endangering people’s lives.

People (at least in the US) already distrust their government (which explained the popularity of the Tea Parties here). Don’t give everyone a reason to distrust (let alone hate) Wikileaks more than the current administration.

(Hat Tip: Life In Israel)

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FTP Fail: It's The Router Stupid!

Right on the heels of encountering problems after attempting to migrate my blog to a WordPress only host (long story short: redirecting the name servers was producing “freaky” results), I’ve now come across another error: My wireless router is once again blocking FTP access.

I am not sure why it keeps doing this (yes, I’ve looked at the settings and they all “appear normal”) and after suspecting the firewall (turning it off, along with anti-virus) I received the same “no dice for Darnell” error.

Last time I googled around for answers and a few experts weighed in with analysis of the issue (validating that it can block FTP) but no solution.

Since I REALLY want to migrate my blog, what I’m going to do is do it all manually. Basically create all the folders and upload the data to the server “the old fashioned way” by simply importing my WordPress data and uploading the media files later.

I’ll save this for the weekend job, but fortunately this should be a lot easier thanks to VaultPress. :-)

Note: While I do like my wireless router, sometimes I think its “too protective.”

Image Credit: Linux Home Networking

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And I'm Back (Geek Wise That Is)

Apparently HostMonster went down and took out all of my sites with it (Colony Worlds, IsraGood, Darnell (Concise Opinions) and a dozen others).

Lets just say for the record I was VERY UNHAPPY over the lack of communication regarding the unscheduled downtime, as the company didn’t notify anyone via email or twitter (yes, @HostMonster does have a twitter account, although they have yet to use it).

After hearing rumors of a DDoS attack, HostMonster was able to clarify that they were instead upgrading their site with new hardware (and scanning files for bad data).

During the outage, I was talking to Media Temple on Twitter (@MediaTemple), as well as Rack Space (via chat) in my quest for a new host.

My plan was to simply import my blog from the VaultPress archives and export it into Media Temple. Their service starts at $20/month for 100 GB and 1 terrabyte transfer (which is expensive but you get what you pay for).

Fortunately cooler minds prevailed, HostMonster apologized and my sites are (currently) back online.

However this whole episode has inspired me to transfer my domains from HostMonster to GoDaddy sooner (I was planning to anyways in order to avoid violating the 3 laws of domains).

I still have a few technical details before the process begins, but either way I will probably be exporting most of my sites upon Media Temple by the end of this year (I’d do it sooner, but I have to increase my geek budget as VaultPress isn’t cheap!).

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Jesus Died For Racist People. I Guess That Includes Mel Gibson Too


Well, after reading a post upon Hot Air, it looks like some of Mel Gibson’s critics were right about the man after all.

We broke the story that Mel told Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his love child, “You’re an embarrassment to me. You look like a f***ing bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n***ers, it will be your fault.” RadarOnline.com had heard the tape.

Now, in a blockbuster world exclusive, RadarOnline.com is posting the audio of Mel’s disgusting outburst. You can listen to it here.(RadarOnline.com)

After previously making slurs against women and Israelis, I was willing to “overlook” Gibson’s outburst due to the fact that he was drunk and displayed some remorse for his comments later on when he was sober.

After this though I’ll be boycotting all of Gibson’s movies (past & present), since the last thing I want to do is condone his actions, especially since we both “share” the same faith (albeit I’m of the Protestant variety).

The sad part about this whole dilemma is that I actually once defended this (formally) great man after he made The Passion of the Christ.

For now I’m glad I held off seeing Edge of Darkness, as well as his Amazon flick, and despite his excellent skill as an actor (and a director) I’ll spend my money and time else where.

Farewell Mel, and as they say in Israel, Shalom! (as you really need to find some)

–Posted from my iPhone

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We Need A "Do Not Facebook Me" List


I love my Facebook friends, but I hate the zillions of apps that they play–or rather the ones that keep appearing on their wall.

I originally joined Facebook in order to see the latest status updates, videos and photos of my friends, frenemies and fellow geeks from various times zones around the world.

Now all I see is people growing virtual plants they can not eat, flying fighter planes they can not afford or embezzling money in cyberspace because they’re too afraid to do it in real life (note: the last part is a GOOD thing!).

While I think joining games like Farmville, Mafia wars and those apps claiming to speak for the Almighty to be silly, I’m getting tired of hiding these items from my wall (as it seems people keep finding various clones of the above mentioned games).

In order to keep my sanity, Facebook needs to create I’m a “Do Not Facebook Me” list, similar to the Do Not Call list created by Uncle Sam.

Even if this was a premium feature (say between $1-$5 per month), this would be worth it, as it would clear Facebook of the noise that often plagues the social network (at least for non-gaming geeks like me).

Will Facebook do this? I don’t know, but right now I’m looking for alternative hangouts. (hint: Twitter and Google Buzz)

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The Content Thieves Are Restless (And Why I Don't Care Anymore)


Have you ever written anything (whether on a blog or in a book) only to have it copied completely and ported over to a random site?

Welcome to my world ladies and gentleman!

Back in the day when someone stole my content (which happened weekly), I would simply send a cease and desist order, or if they were anonymous I would contact their host (who more often than not shut down the scum’s site).

That was when people who were stealing my content were from nations that acknowledged copyrights.

Fast forward to today: there are now dozens who are daily stealing my content (sometimes very brazenly), with many being hosted in nations that either do not recognize US copyright laws or if they do recognize it, refuse to do anything because they currently hate my government (think China).

Since I am getting tired of this “cat and mouse” game, I think I’m going to embrace TechCrunch‘s policy and instead focus on creating great content (translation: ignore the thieves).

Will this work in the long run? Who knows! But until I can build an army of robots to lay the vicious smack down against these thieves skulls find an affordable solution, I’m going to stop sending cease and desist orders (as I’m not too sure how effective they are in English overseas).

– Posted from my iPhone

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