Jun 30 2009 Miss You: The Pirate Bay Has Been Sold
The Pirate Bay, one of the world's best known torrent search portals, is being sold to some Swedish firm. It will no longer be so piratey.
Global Gaming Factory X AB, a Swedish firm that runs Internet cafes and game centers, plans to buy The Pirate Bay for 60 million kronor (~$8 million), twice the fine that was slapped on The Pirate Bay defendants by a Stockholm court earlier this year....the new owners plan to make it a legal service that allows "content providers and copyright owners [to] get paid for content that is downloaded via the site."
"Legal service"...."paid for content"....they better change the name.
Pirate Bay sold, to become more like Carnival Cruise Lines [arstechnica]
Thanks to Thumperchica and Zombie Pirate LeChuck, who agrees this isn't even Disney Pirate's Bay any more.
Jun 15 2009 Raytheon Gets Contract For Laser Weapon
Raytheon, a company best known for my brother and I both swearing we saw an airplane land on top of one of their buildings in Huntsville, Alabama, has received a Navy contract to draw up the initial design of a powerful burning 100-kW Fee Electron Laser (which may or may not look like an automotive engine) to be mounted on seagoing vessels. Pew pew? No. PEW PEW!
Once designed, the naval operators could adjust the wavelength of the laser, which wasn't possible with conventional lasers. This helps compensate for the varying humidity associated with ship-borne situations.
The laser beams could be used against missiles, airplanes, or even boats.
I need one of these for my car. Seriously, I'm tired of sitting in traffic. And let me tell you, I don't just road rage, I road man-rage. You ever seen a guy tear off his own steering wheel, jam it down an air-conditioning vent and then sob uncontrollably? If you've ridden with me you have.
Navy/Raytheon working on 100kW weaponized laser: cue the 'pew-pew' sound effects [dvice]
Apr 23 2009 Fair Trial Fail: Judge In Pirate Bay Case A Member Of Swedish Copyright Association
So yeah, it turns out the questionably honorable judge (Tomas Norstrom) in the recent Pirate Bay trial is "a member of the Swedish Copyright Association and sits on the board of Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property". How did this even happen? Hint: Swedish Fish. Love those things.
Peter Althin, the lawyer for TPB cofounder Peter Sunde, said he's asking the Swedish appeals court to consider ordering a retrial based on the judge's possible bias, the BBC reports.
"The judge in one of Sweden's most high profile case ever is also a member of an interest organisation for one side and associates with the prosecution trial lawyers in his free time? That is inexcusable corruption.
Wow, I don't even know where to being with -- ORDER IN THE BLOG! ORDER IN THE BLOG! Bailiff, remove this unruly commenter from my blogroom. Then come back and let me touch your gun. Now, where were we? Oh right -- recess. Who's down for hopscotch?!
Pirate Bay judge is member of Copyright Association [zdnet]
Thanks to Matty, who is now welcome to join my pirate crew -- provided he pass the three trials first.
Apr 17 2009 Pirate Bay Founders Sentenced To A Year
That's right folks, the four men (Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom) most intimately linked to The Pirate Bay, a torrent-tracking portal I know absolutely nothing about and have never visited except to take this screenshot, have been found guilty of breaching copyright laws and have been ordered to pay around $3.6 million and each serve a year in the slammer.
The group that controls The Pirate Bay, launched in 2003, says that no copyrighted material is stored on its servers and no exchange of files actually takes place there so it cannot be held responsible for what material is being exchanged.
The prosecution said that by financing, programing and administering the site, the four men promoted the infringement of property rights by the site's users.Lundstrom's attorney Per Samuelson told journalists he was shocked by the verdict and the severity of the sentence.
"That's outrageous, in my point of view. Of course we will appeal," he said. "This is the first word, not the last. The last word will be ours."
I don't know much, but I do know I wouldn't want to spend a year in Swedish pound you in the ass jail, because that would involve a whole different kind of pirating (read: butt). Also, $3.6 million in fines? I've probably downloaded that much material myself. Sounds reasonable.
Pirate Bay fileshare four jailed for a year [yahoonews]
Thanks to Joshua, Robert, E of R, Sean and Richard, who don't even know what a torrent is. Isn't that right, guys? *wink*
Mar 31 2009 Netflix Announces Blu-ray Renting Costs
Yesterday Netflix announced its new cost structure for adding Blu-ray access to you account, just in case you were wondering. Basically, it costs $1 more than the number of discs you can have out at one time (if you're on the 3-at-a-time plan, adding Blu-ray costs $4 a month, for the 4-at-a-time, $5 a month, etc.). So there you have it. Of course, if you're looking to save money instead of spending it, you should do what I do and only rent from The Pirate Bay. And by rent I mean download. And by download I mean I heard they have porn. Which, *poker face* I don't know anything about.
Thanks to The Superficial Writer, who's still convinced HD DVD is gonna make a comeback.
Mar 9 2009 Yaaaar!: Finally, A Ship Fit For Hungry Pirates
Want to build you own 17,000 calorie pirate ship? No problem, pick up these ingredients and then follow the picture tutorial after the jump.
Ingredients:
~20 sausages
~48 rashers of bacon
1.2kg of sausage meat
1kg of pork mince
10 franks
1kg of pastry (not 100% meat this time)
1 onion
1 mushroom
2 packets of chipolata sausages
various food colorings
sage
My god that looks delicious. I've always known I wanted to be a pirate, I just had no idea how badly I wanted to be a meatpirate. Yaaar, surrender yer sausage! Haha nothing, I'm being serious -- now drop trow ye scalawags!
Hit the jump for the making of the ship.
Continue Reading " Yaaaar!: Finally, A Ship Fit For Hungry Pirates "
Feb 10 2009 'Immaculate' Prosthetic Aims To Make Fake Limbs More Attractive, They Totally Succeed
The currently conceptual 'Immaculate' prosthetic was designed by Hans Alexander Huseklepp and looks like a robot's arm. Am I running? No, but I am typing this standing up.
The concept "immaculate" from Hans Alexander Huseklepp explores the idea of turning a handicap into a high-performance, cybernetic fashion statement. The neurological prosthetic is clad in technology-packed corian plates with dome-joints that offer a larger degree of freedom than that motherly-issued arm of yours.
Hey, anything that makes a prosthetic more efficient and those wearing them feel better is alright in my book. I just wish they came with a wood veneer option. What can I say -- I'm a pirate at heart. A really classy one who wears a monocle over his eyepatch. YAAAR, anyone for tea?
Hit the jump for one more picture sans model.
Jan 2 2009 Yaaaaar!, A Custom Davy Jones Munny Figure
This is a custom Davy Jones Munny figure. You might recall Davy from such blockbusters as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chesticles, and Ass Pirates of the Caribbean: The Geekologie Writer's Cave of Treasure. This particular pirate was made by Mallory Carson of Fullerton, CA.
Mallory is a 21 year old animation major and currently in her senior year at CSU Fullerton. While she's a full-time student, she manages to score some extra cash by selling her artwork.
And to think I sold my soul (and genitals) to pay my way through college. Art -- who would have known? Seriously though Mallory, good lookin'. I mean it -- I'm handsome as hell. We should date casually.
Hit the jump for two more, including one of Davy-in-progress. Also, his peg-leg looks like a summer sausage and is making me hungry.
Continue Reading " Yaaaaar!, A Custom Davy Jones Munny Figure "
Sep 17 2008 Star Wars Episode III With Piss-Poor Subtitles
I don't know if this is real or not, but it certainly could be. Apparently some pirates got a copy of Star Wars Episode III before its release and decided to subtitle it themselves. The result? A homoerotic space thriller!
Skip to about 1:00 to get past the explanation.
Thanks Charlie, but you bite my finger and I'll kill you.
Aug 4 2008 Legit Looking: Handheld Super Nintendo
This is a handheld Super Nintendo made by some guy that frequents the BenHeck forums (Ben Heck being that guy that's always modding the hell out of controllers). As you can see, it's looking pretty sleek. Way sleeker than the portable Gamecube, and of equal sleekiosity to this Dreamcast. But how does it compare to its wooden brethren? Well that's up to your personal taste. And feel. Some pirates prefer a modern, plastic prosthetic when they lose a leg in battle, but I'm a purist -- pegleg all the way. Oh shit, and a parrot. Gotta have a parrot. And it should be able to cuss. And have a patch-eye and a tattoo of a naked mermaid. Otherwise, you aren't a freaking pirate, you're just an exotic pet owner with a missing leg.
Hit the jump for a couple more views, including one from the rear.
May 30 2008 I Want This Boat -- The Wallypower 118
The $33 million Wallypower 118 is the boat of my dreams. Its 118 feet are powered by five engines -- 2 diesels for tooting around the marina, and 3 jet turbines, for pirating at over 70 MPH. At top speed it guzzles a liter of fuel per second, which limits the range of its 22 ton fuel tanks to 400 nautical miles (compared to 1,500 nm if you're just putting around with the diesels at 9 knots). I could go on and on about how I want to get one and pirate my life away, but instead I'll just say this: I take back all the mean things I said about the guy that has sex with cars, because I would totally do this boat.
A TON more pictures that you WILL look at because I spent a lot of time editing them (and there's one of a chick in a bikini from 50 miles away). Also, some videos.
Apr 2 2008 Fastest High-Resolution Inkjet Printhead
Kyocera recently announced it has created a printhead capable of printing 1,000 A4 pages per minute at 600 x 600 dpi (~17 pages/sec!). That seems pretty damn fast. I can't recall the last time I needed 1,000 pages a minute, but it's for commercial applications anyways, and I hate commercials. Global sales of the head started this month, so they should be out there pretty soon. Oooh, this gives me a business idea. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? I thought so, I knew you and I were on the same page. Two words: Let's pirate nudey mags.
1,000 sheets of A4 paper per minute [7gadgets]
Nov 26 2007 Crossbones Pillow Is On My Christmas List
The skull and crossbones pillow is a large cushion with a nice piratey theme. They run $31 and are a must have for any serious pirate. Like me. The person in the picture is clearly no pirate though. While undoubtedly ugly (since they're hiding their face) we know better than to lie on the sofa with shoes on. And Velcro is a definite no-no for the pirate crowd. Trust me, I've been lootin' and plunderin' since I popped out of the womb. As a matter of fact when I was born I swung out on a rope with a knife in my teeth, firing a cannon at the doctor. Then I downed a jug of rum and banged a nurse while smoking a cigar. True story.
Large Skull and Crossbones Cushion is Comfortably Masculine [nerdapproved]
Feb 13 2007 Schwarzenegger & Chan Terminate Piracy!
If this doesn't make you want to stop pirating movies, nothing will! And make sure you're not wearing socks, because they're about to be blown off.
