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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Why You Can't Lock Technology Down; or, Viacom Are Some Greedy Folk

Right, so, I've been bad at updating yet again. I have no excuse really, just a general lazy streak. So, let's get caught up shall we?

This past weekend, I was involved in my second "official" paranormal investigation. This time, making the trip out to Pere Cheney, which is a sort of local ghost town. When I say local, it's about an hour drive from my house. And when I say ghost town, I mean in the sense that it was once a town, which had two major fires, and a couple of outbreaks of sickness, and say it's population go from about 5000 to nil in less than 15 years. It is supposedly a highly active area for the paranormal. So, I met up with the folks in my group (Wind Spirits Paranormal Society), and we did a joint investigation of the area with Metro Paranormal Investigators (MPI) from down state. I really enjoyed working with the guys from MPI. They run an investigation the way I like to see it. Very professional, very organized, very good. I am hoping to work with them again soon. I was extended a personal invite to tag along with them again if I'm ever in their area, and I will be taking them up on that. I did have one personal experience happen during the night. I saw what looked to be a small child running around in the grass in front of me. I can safely rule out a fox or other animal, as I was less than 20 feet from it, and I heard no sound what so ever coming from it. I still have all my audio to go over, so we'll see if there is any evidence captured.

Now, here's a little news story I can't help but talk about. Seems Viacom send out yet another cease and desist order to someone on YouTube. It was for a clip from the VH1 show "Web Junk". It dealt with a clip that was an ad some guy made when he ran for public office on some kind. The rub? It was posted by the guy who made the original clip VH1 used. With out contacting him in any way, they used his clip, then try to say he is infringing on copyright by posting the clip from their show of his material. read more about it here.

In other news, The iPhone is unlocked. Well, sort of. Two different teams of hackers claim to have a software unlocking utility that can easily unlock the iPhone, allowing you to use any GSM carrier's SIM card to run your phone. Of course, you can't actually use either one yet, as they both have said that lawyers for AT&T have threatened legal action if they do. More impressive though, is the 17 year old from New Jersey. He did a bit more in depth of a task, spending his summer before college hacking the iPhone, hardware style. Using his trusty soldering iron, and apparently a lot of free time, he successfully hacked his phone. Not bad. When I was 17, I was lucky I knew how to use the microwave, but these kids today, boy howdy!

The weekend approaches. I have a pistol match Sunday, and labor day on Monday. I can't wait. Should be a good weekend

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