Blogs

I read on Ars Technica that:

"We wanted to ensure we took every logical step to deter player griefing," Ben Jones, a designer at Zipper Interactive, told Ars. "Features like protected spawn areas, vote-kick and auto-kick at a certain team kill threshold help to preserve the ideal gameplay experience. You'll also receive negative experience points for TKing, and in a game where XP is vital to progressing your character, we feel that's a solid deterrent."

Can anybody explain WTF this means? Is this even English?

After nine months deliberation, Simon Powers has released a cabinet paper detailing a replacement Section 92a; the controversial law withdrawn in March this year which could have seen Internet users summarily disconnected by ISPs if accused of copyright infringement, and would have left ISPs no option but to do so.

The new ammendment introduces a notice-and-notice process, whereby ISPs are required only to pass on notices of infringment from copyright holders to alleged infringers. Should the user be served three such notices the copyright holder may choose to escalate to the Copyright Tribunal for redress.

Unfortunately all this good work could soon be derailed by super-secret ACTA negotiations, considered to be so super-national-security-sensitive that the citizens of involved nations cannot be trusted to hear what is being discussed.

The Cabinet Paper
National Business Review
Ars Technica

In what has to be the oddest celebrity statement I've read all week, former model and actress Cindy Crawford says she prefers to be thought of as a MILF, a term described in the article as "an abbreviated slang term used to describe a sexy woman who has children."
Fair 'nuff.

I was present at Parliament grounds today to protest against the proposed ACC levy hikes which would see the cost of owning my motorcycle jump by almost $500 per year. The atmosphere was incredible - I saw and heard no trouble at all from anyone there, despite the crowd being shoulder-to-shoulder throughout the grounds. I was in the centre very near the front, and on either side of me the crowd was a sea of leather. The speakers were all received well until the Minister for ACC, Nick Smith made his speech at the very end.
The organisation of the event was superb, and kudo goes to Brent Hutchison (aka StoneY), BRONZ, the Police and the many others who helped make it a success.
There was some excellent television coverage, including a handsome and well spoken chap who appears at about the 1:50 mark in the TV3 coverage video here.

Actor Edward Woodward, or Ewar Woowar to those unable to pronounce the letter "D", is reported to have died at age 79. I remember him as Robert McCall from The Equalizer".