English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout
You may have noticed that the 'Support Wikipedia' banner that appears on most of my pages has been temporarily replaced with a 'Blackout' version. This is because the Wikipedia community has announced its decision to black out the English-language Wikipedia for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 05:00 UTC on Wednesday, January 18 (you can read the statement from the Wikimedia Foundation here). The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States-the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate.
Wikipedia are not alone in their action, raspberrypi.org, Mozilla, The Free Software Foundation and reddit.com are among the many other sites that will be 'going dark' on the 18th January.
In the spirit of my other pages; here are the 'Useful Links'.
- SOPA and PIPA - Learn more
- Wikipedia:SOPA initiative
- English Wikipedia anti-SOPA blackout
- PROTECT IP Act
- Stop Online Piracy Act
- Raspberry Pi website to go dark on Jan 18 to protest against SOPA
- Stopped they must be; on this all depends.
- How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation
- Google - End Piracy, Not Liberty
- BBC - Sopa and Pipa anti-piracy bills controversy explained
- Mozilla Joins Virtual Protests of PIPA/SOPA
17th January, 2012
Poppy Appeal 2011
I've managed to put the new look site up with just a few days left until Remembrance Sunday here in the United Kingdom. With that in mind, I've changed the 'Support Wikipedia' button that appears on every page for a direct link to the Poppy Appeal 2011. If you find anything of any use on my site and you are based in the United Kingdom, (or if you'd just like to donate) please consider giving any amount you can afford.
Thank you.
8th November, 2011
My Bride, My Love, My Sarah
...last but not least, I'd like to thank every one of you for the effort that you have put in to today. Some of you have travelled from exotic, faraway places such as France, The Netherlands, Brighton and Frome to be here today. I also know that some of you have been shopping for new dresses or suits more times in the last few weeks than you have at any other time in the last few years. All of your efforts are greatly appreciated.
In a moment, I'm going to hand you over to my best man Kevin. I'm going to let him tell you all how wonderful I am and what a great friend I've been over the last twenty-four years. And, that despite knowing me for all that time, he couldn't find any traditionally embarrassing stories to tell you all today.
But before I do that I'd like to add an "And Finally".
At a wedding, you'll often hear the groom telling everybody how beautiful his bride is and how happy she has made him. And, perhaps some might think that on their wedding day this could go without saying. After all they have just promised each other that they will spend the rest of their lives together.
But of course, if there is ever a day that it should NOT go without saying, no matter how much the Groom's nerves are getting the better of him, today is that day.
And so to end, I'd like to tell Sarah how much I love her, how beautiful she looks today and how happy she has made me. And I'll ask you to raise your glasses once again and toast; my bride, my love, my Sarah.
17th September, 2011
