The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry » Forum: The Zero Room

The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry » Forum: The Zero Room - Recent Posts http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/forum/the-zero-room Just another bbPress community en-US Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:33:54 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/search.php croose on "Twitter censor" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/twitter-censor#post-281491 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:14:01 +0000 croose 281491@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ I am not really a big fan of twitter but when social networking sites go at it with SOPA, I do think that that is such a big game changer. There shouldn't be any type of bias over that form of medium considering how they could be of very little bid to boost piracy. I mean, they are just making a sort of different stomp to take control considering the buzz they are generating more than ever. Nitro on "Twitter censor" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/twitter-censor#post-281373 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:59:31 +0000 Nitro 281373@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Alot of the recent hubbub has to do, too, with the lack of transparency to users beforehand. Using the 'you get it for free' argument isn't much of an arguement when what is at stake is their ability and practice to permanently keep your tweets as tehir property, or FB contents as FB's for resale. Why not mention this in plainer view versus burying it in 20 pages of small print that has only the 'i agree' or 'i reject' button before proceeding? Particularly because if the FBI do go to them and want their logs, tehy'll be handing them over and you could be woken up for questioning one morning because it winds up one of your friends didn't tell you they were involved in some crime, but you're now in a guilt by association situation and having to answer uncomftorable questions. I forget which country he's in, Germany I think, but a man finally decided to test FB's policy that they will send you everything they have on you for your review. Not many people do this and, in fact, I think he's the first one. Now, first I must say here he is not a heavy FB user. He says once a week maybe. He got back from FB 1,024 pages of information they had on him!!! He's still going through most of it. The worst part, imho, of the information was that EXACT geolocation of the last computer he used. The specific coordinates for THAT computer. And, they had hundreds of pages on sites he'd browsed to OUTSIDE of FB. If that doesn't tell you they leaving a tracking cooking in your browser, I don't know what else can. I'm relieved that Europe has stiffer laws about what FB and Twitter can get away with. FB is just too far off in right field running that service like the chinese run their people,"WE KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU!!" Nitro on "This Sharia Law Stuff burns my butt" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/this-sharia-law-stuff-burns-my-butt#post-281369 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:41:52 +0000 Nitro 281369@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ In the West, there is a saying about dogs being man’s best friend. They’re extremely loyal and they’re always thrilled to see you whenever you walk through the front door. In Europe, dogs have suddenly found themselves the targets of Jihad, particularly in the Netherlands and Spain. Via Stonegate Institute: A Dutch Muslim politician has called for a ban on dogs in The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are “unclean” animals, and some say the call to ban them in Holland and elsewhere represents an attempted encroachment of Islamic Sharia law in Europe. This latest canine controversy — which the Dutch public has greeted with a mix of amusement and outrage — follows dozens of other Muslim-vs-dog-related incidents in Europe. Critics say it reflects the growing assertiveness of Muslims in Europe as they attempt to impose Islamic legal and religious norms on European society. Well, they're trying to push Shari'a law in Spain too and yes, it is about peoples dogs. Demands to prevent public display of dogs was rejected outright and so the next thing you know, 30 dogs were found poisoned to death the day after the decision to allow people to still walk thier dogs around and to parks. Poisoning is a particularly painful and therefore, extremely inhumane way to kill an innocent animal, many of who are members of peoples families, companions to the elderly and disabled, and used in search and rescue and bomb sniffing exercises. The domestic dog is still our friend and gives a lot to us so we have tried to integrate them in many ways into our society with us. If i don't like my neighbors cat, I don't go kill it. I just don't hang out with it. And if she wanted to drag it off to a public park or beach, that's her business. Sorry Joe and Jane Muslim, practice your religion all you like but don't think you're going after MY dog in the process. The Dutch dustup erupted after Hasan Küçük, a Turkish-Dutch representative on The Hague city council for the Islam Democrats, vehemently opposed a proposal by the Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren) to make the city more dog friendly. TobiasMonk on "Twitter censor" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/twitter-censor#post-281065 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:53:57 +0000 TobiasMonk 281065@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Insight regarding Twitter censoring: <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/twitter-tweet-takedowns-censorship-or-sensible--1058152" rel="nofollow">http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/twitter-twe.....e--1058152</a> Nitro on "Twitter censor" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/twitter-censor#post-281055 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:49:44 +0000 Nitro 281055@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ so twatter's publically acknowledging that yes, indeed, they will be censoring tweets and doing this right on the tail of the whole SOPA issue going public i say 'going public' because these policies and potential laws existed and were/are being worked on much longer than before the Masses become aware of them - which brings me to my point: i'm SO ticked off when users of FB or Twitter start expressing outrage or shock about these social networking sites already conforming to SOPA's basic ideologies, and they've been warned by geeks online about this for awhile, and then whine and gripe when it hits them more directly than they could've imagined For instance, FaceBook's new law regarding the Timeline feature is essentially this: You have 7 days to 'sanitize' your account of photos or posts you may find embarassing these days or in the future. After that, we post ALL OF IT, FOREVER on the site and you CANNOT GO BACK and sanitize it later. Well, for people who started using social networking back in the early 2000's, especially those under 40, they've got a lot of work ahead of them and their 'friends'. The fact that the goverments want control of the internet and want to lock it down and legally follow without warrants etc etc does not surprise me. Every government has a facist, power hungry freak hiding it somewhere with dreams of punishments exacted for 'out of norm' behavior. What pisses me off is that so many people have ignored repeatedly sites like the old Facebook Seppeku. Facebook sued the Seppeku people into silence ( shut up or else! ) and the power that seppeku gave to facebook users to totally delete ( REALLY delete ) their accounts went bye bye. (btw, i once posted how you can do that without seppeku's help but am not going to do that again as i'm sure it will be as ignored as this post will be ). When you play the sheep, ba-ba-ing along, and then find you can clearly see the butchers hands and whoops, it's too late for you..you dont' really have a right to bleet about how unfair things are because you went along with the herd. Evil rises because good people stay silent. Well, it's one of the reasons lol If you haven't figured it out yet Facebook users, that Timeline feature is their ultimate catch all. They legally own all your content anyway. The details of your life, the photos, the links, your friends and families photos etc etc. Twitter users, there's a reason that other tweeters are in uproar right now. Ignore these facts as you like and oh, btw, be very, very careful about those who do the old 'oh poo-poo, pfft...it's not all THAT bad' wether they be talking heads or writers. Ask them to answer one question: How much stock do you own in either of these companies? 'nough said. I've already had, and I just woke up, FIFTEEN emails of freinds and/or family squawking at me about how upset they are by all these new censorship or ownership policies by google, and facebook and twitter and the SOPA stuff...man, you know, me and a helluva lot of other people have been warning you about this and tried to help you adopt some better tech behavior. But there you went bleeting on to the butcher anyway...yeesh!! What did you EXPECT?!! Concern for YOUR feelings about censorship? ROFLMAO...right. You did. And that's your problem. Well if you're gonna swim with these tech sharks, don't whine when they bite your legs off. joan on "depression" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/depression-3#post-280803 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:16:44 +0000 joan 280803@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ I'm OK now, but once was clinically depressed after having a stillborn baby in NZ. That country was going through a racist patch, and one radio DJ was demonising us 'poms' at every opportunity, so that made it worse. The Doc gave me a form of valium, but I hated it and stopped after three days. We decided to try an ancient method. The Ancient Romans believed that a healthy mind and a healthy body went together, so we went on a healthy eating and excercise regime. It worked after a couple of months. (Then we started working towards leaving the place! We've never been back. That DJ is dead now, I read his obit last year. I do hope RF Delderfield is right, and God IS and Englishman!!) I should point out that NZ is very beautiful and we made some lovely friends. Nitro on "depression" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/depression-3#post-280795 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:15:28 +0000 Nitro 280795@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Being drawn to processed food - Oy vey! I have NEVER gotten away from that myself LOL And I eat what some might consider a pretty healthy diet. That you've abandoned such items altogether is extremely admirable I think. I've often conjectured that once you eat a potato chip, it's all over. It's just a downhill slide from there but damn sometimes they're good. But you know what? The idea of avoiding processed foods altogether is something that may have much larger implications physiologically than is known even now. For example, one of the fastest growing diseases, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, has been on the rise over the last few decades. This disease strikes across all age groups from 10 - 80 years old, all genders...erm, I mean, both genders...and all ethnicities. I wonder if there's an environmental factor to that. Beth, when it comes to medications that impact brain chemistry, it's kind of a black art for doctors. No pill works the same for every individual and sometimes you outgrow a medication. Which I'm sure is very frustrating. So they have to work pretty hard at dialing in a Rx suitable for you and they'll try to get you as close to the fewest side affects as possible, but you cannot avoid all of them across the board. It's kind of a "Every Pleasure has its Price" situation. Have you tried keeping a brief daily log on the impacts of this medicine? That can help your doctor and that's the point of it. They need all the details so they can adjust types and doseage. Meanwhile, the patient really has to hang in there until you get as close as you can to whatever YOUR normal is. But it's def going to take your participation in your life, as hard as it may feel right now, to get there. You could try starting with simple questions for yourself: Is there any aspect of my mood I feel is improved compared to before Drug 'x'? Also, I hope you won't be offended but you seem to be suffering a lot of anxiety which is maybe(?) intensified by the medication? Does your doctor know or have you realized anything like that? I think anxiety can be really awful to endure if it's too long lasting and fatiguing which, listen..I'm not a doctor but just puzzling around...could then intensify depression and impact motivation, you know? So, maybe you need an anxiety *specific* Rx to help ( they're two seperate families of drugs btw ). I do think, fwiw, that wether you're on meds or not that you eat healthy foods as often as possible and stay hydrated. I would really encourage you to get back with your doctor and let them know you're not feeling well. I hope you will start to feel better soon <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> Nitro on "The lack of words..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/the-lack-of-words#post-280737 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:25:28 +0000 Nitro 280737@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ This->"Wouldn't we all want to work for a world of acceptance, if only for their sakes?" Beautiful sentiment Joan and sums it up quite nicely imnsho <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> Nitro on "Good-bye Cruel World..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/good-bye-cruel-world#post-280735 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:24:01 +0000 Nitro 280735@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Yes, that makes perfect sense. joan on "The lack of words..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/the-lack-of-words#post-280599 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:34:45 +0000 joan 280599@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Marcin said: ------------------------------------------------------------------- I will never, and I say that again, NEVER approve of homosexual couples raising children...that is just sick and wrong in my opinion and I always say it openly as my point of view. ------------------------------------------------------------------- A person's sexuality is not chosen - it is inborn. For this reason, we know that giving people reduced human rights because of their sexuality is just plain wrong. Marcin - you need to accept that it is perfectly normal for some people to be gay. There are nice gays and nasty gays, bright ones and stupid ones, right wing and left wing, religious and atheist, AND those who want families and those who don't. What business is it of any of us to judge them as unworthy of having children? In any case, many gay people already have children before accepting their own sexuality, so if it is wrong for gay people to bring up kids, should these children be taken away from them? I don't think you believe this. Please reconsider your attitude as it is most certainly homophobic. I feel you do not want to be like that, so you need to do some serious scientific and sociological thinking, and accept the reality about homosexuality. It is normal. It is not sick. There is no logical reason for discrimination, even though hatred, suspicion, discrimination and outright bullying are still prevalent. It is easy for me - I was brought up from early childhood to accept all people and never discriminate or judge. I realise it is very hard for people with a religious background, even if they've rejected those beliefs, to rise above the brainwashing. It is especially hard when society and laws are intrinsically homophobic. But remember, even those of us born hetero might one day have a gay child or grandchild. Wouldn't we all want to work for a world of acceptance, if only for their sakes? LandRoverPETER on "Good-bye Cruel World..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/good-bye-cruel-world#post-280595 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:53:16 +0000 LandRoverPETER 280595@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Hi, buy a landrover or car take its roof off and drive it either standing up or sat on the seat backs in a quiet world corner such as a park or field or like me a lonely back track. It is horrendous fun and im not getting bored of it yet. I suppose it is the feeling train surfers get or people abseiling or even taking your first ride on an escalator. So try that folks and look danger in the eye and win out with style. Regards Peter. Nitro on "Perplexing Questions" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/perplexing-questions/page/2#post-280459 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:20:12 +0000 Nitro 280459@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ "..tidyness is unnatural." Oh I DO like that one GG!! I am going to write it down, frame it, and post it right on my front door! <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> In a nice, neat frame, of course. Malfunctioning robots are fascinating because they speak Italian and French fluently, and they are amusing because their socks never, ever match. They also squeak when they move sometimes. I hope that explains it. Q: Now, what were we saying again again? Nitro on "Why do are children make as cry" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/why-do-are-children-make-as-cry#post-280457 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:10:25 +0000 Nitro 280457@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Good thing we aren't using paper here as I might've killed a few trees with my reply <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> I'm glad things are going well with you and your son and thanks for being good natured about my long winded letter <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_wink.gif" title=";)" class="bb_smilies" /> Nitro on "The lack of words..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/the-lack-of-words#post-280455 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:04:59 +0000 Nitro 280455@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ 1) Mr.Fry is not 'Sir' Stephen Fry. That is something I think the Queen decides and far as I know, it's not been decided and I can't imagine, unless he's always acting which I doubt, Mr.Fry himself would suggest happening. 2) You have a right to be proud of your country as any citizen does. 3) Mr.Fry says things that do not go over well sometimes. Neither do you. Nor I. Nor anyone else that might be identified as 'human'. I'm not being an apologist for him, he doesn't need it anyway. I'm only suggesting that if you can remember that a person is a human being first, like yourself, you might be able to imagine they are not PURPOSEFULLY and CONSCIOUSLY planning to hurt you by having an opinion or just not stringing all sentences together perfectly. I would be TOAST if that standard were applied to me. Wouldn't you? NOBODY, NOBODY, NOBODY can be 100% conscious 100% of the time of answering a question honestly as themselves and also be 100% eloquent, not even actors ( cause, they wouldn't be themselves in an interview...see? ). To expect it or think it exists is believing an illusion. I would find it beyond absurd to believe Mr.Fry is unapproving of the whole of Poland; past, present, and future. Seriously..come on, be reasonable. 4) I have no idea why I'm creating a list. 5) It seemed like a good idea at that time, and now, not so much. Oops, forgot one... 6) There are many times I've thought that there are many adults, including myself, who might've had far happier, well adjusted childhoods if they'd had two daddies or two mommies who loved them unconditionally than one daddy and/or one mommy who abused them. IOW, you have a right to your belief, but mine is that two LOVING parents are a far better alternative to one traditional model of parents that can create a living hell for themselves and a child. Love doesn't disgust me so much as the idea of orphaned, abandoned, and abused children do. Plenty of straight folks, unfortunately, have proven capable of that. Nitro on "Head feels a bit "chocka"" http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/head-feels-a-bit-chocka#post-280453 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:44:28 +0000 Nitro 280453@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ Oops, I just realized you did NOT eat the rabbit. My head's 'chocka' too I guess <img src="http://www.stephenfry.com/bb-content/plugins//bb-smilies/default/icon_lol.gif" title=":lol:" class="bb_smilies" />