New cartoon

Just A Note

I am writing from a computer at the local community college. I lost mine along with a great number of other resources recently, and I'll detail that later.

If you don't see me often you'll know why.

Blessings,



Julian

uh-oh Anominity

Bloggers lose their cloak of anonymity

Nick Abrahams and Victoria Dunn
August 21, 2009 - 10:33AM

Bloggers sometimes hide behind their anonymity to make comments which they would be reluctant to make in the offline world. Anonymity is often thought to protect bloggers from being accountable for their comments. However, this thin veneer of protection can be removed either by application to court or, sometimes, by some simple cyber-sleuthing.

This week, former Vogue Australia cover girl, Liskula Cohen, successfully sued Google and the company was forced to reveal the identity of a blogger using Google's Blogger service who had called her a "skank”, amongst other things.

In Britain last month an anonymous blogger claimed he had a legally enforceable right to remain anonymous. The blogger was the author of "Night Jack”, a blog critical of government and political matters. While the author did not reveal his identity, he did reveal that he was a police officer.

A journalist from The Times had uncovered the blogger's identity using publicly available online information. The Court found that the blogger had no right to remain anonymous and allowed The Times to publish the blogger's identity. The case is a signal that bloggers cannot rely on the courts to protect them from being held accountable for their comments.

These cases show us that bloggers can not bank on their anonymity. In fact, in some situations, a blogger's identify can be discovered through searching publicly available online databases and other information freely available on the internet. However, many are unaware of the free resources available to identify bloggers and blog site hosts.

Where defamatory or other offensive material about an individual is posted online, the individual could commence court proceedings. The first issue is to identify the blogger for the purposes of the proceedings. This can be difficult if the blogger is blogging anonymously or under a pseudonym. One alternative is to do as Cohen did and go to court and have the blogger identified as part of a preliminary discovery process. However, many individuals are not interested in going to court and simply want the content taken down as quickly as possible. To do this, you need to know who to talk to about having the content removed.

There are generally two options for getting content removed:

• get the author to remove it; or

• get the website host to remove it.

The key stumbling block to doing this is working out who the author and website host are.

Although it is more of an art than a science, the identity of a blogger or a website host can often be identified though searching publicly available online databases.

Where the host of a website is not displayed on a blog site, a domain name register should be the first port of call. These are public databases which list the name of the person or company which has registered a particular domain name. This is a good way of identifying the author of a self-hosted website, or the website host if the website is operated by a third party. Usually both the author and the website host are capable of removing the content – whether they respond to demands to remove the content is another issue.

A good starting point for information about the entities that are responsible for specific domain names is http://whois.domaintools.com. Australian domain name registers (i.e. registers of domain names ending in .com.au, .net.au or similar) can also be searched online at http://whois-generic.ausregistry.net.au.

Databases of domain names registered in the United States (i.e. domain names ending in .com, .net or similar) can be searched online on a variety of websites, for example http://www.whois.net or http://www.internic.net/whois.html.

Once you know the name of the entity, a Google search or a search of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission or Department of Fair Trading databases will often then reveal contact information about the operators.

These tools can assist individuals concerned about internet content that is genuinely offensive or defamatory to identify who they should speak to about having the content removed. They also offer a good first step for finding out information about the identity of an author without having to instigate formal court proceedings.

Of course identifying the blogger is only the first step in getting the material taken down. If the blogger refuses then defamation proceedings may be the only alternative. However, if the bloggers ability to rely on the cloak of anonymity continues to be eroded by courts (and online search tools), then it may be that anonymous bloggers may begin to show more discretion in what they post.

Nick Abrahams is a Partner and Sydney Office Chairman of law firm Deacons. Victoria Dunn is a Lawyer with Deacons. From January 1, 2010, Deacons Australia will become part of the international legal practice Norton Rose Group.

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/biz-tech/bloggers-lose-their-cloak-of-anonymity-20090821-eso3.html

Wow - Back Here ... Finally!

Song lyrics | Ain't No Rest For The Wicked lyrics

---------

Looks like I may be working two (2) jobs very soon to stay ahead of myself.

Also, I have a HUGE secret to reveal.

Blessings,




Julian

A Haunted Funeral Home

I was asked to visit a funeral home here in San Antonio, near my place. It's a small place near my apartment, and it's been the scene of many deaths from the days of my youth to today. KB Toys, Steve & Barry's, Boston Market and even Papa John's pizza are all gone, but this funeral home is still here.

I like some things solemn, and church and a funeral should be among them. In the end, it was a roast, with giggling and stories being told that were more about the family than the departed. I know it was said in love, and with a deep sense pleasure that everyone could share in the joy of knowing the dear-departed, but that should have been done outside. It should have been done outside of the funeral room, separating the mourners from those 'celebrating the life lost' with happy memories.

The good things in life are how we should remember those who have gone before us into the great adventure. We should be cackling, laughing, and holding our stomachs unless we're in the outer alcove. I was thinking back to 1896, when a friend of mine committed suicide, leaving many of us heartbroken. I was asked to be an usher, and I was unsure of what to do with my feelings: the guy had been like a brother to me. We ate bad food, drank a lot, and he taught me how to drive and how to crash bars with confidence. Now he was gone, and I was floundering in the water, like in a pool, unsure and thrashing with the fear of drowning and the lack of a life preserver.

We were quiet. very fuckin' quiet, and we told stories at his folks home, having beers and showing off pictures of all the things we did together. But it was unnerving, being here in the noise 23 years later with the family going on and on about just how it could have been and what fun-blah-blah-blah.

I felt like I was 19 years old again. We were told to wait as the family was sheparded out the door, told we'd be carrying the casket, and after the room was emptied, the place was closed. The funeral director told us to say our final "good-bye's", and staying silently in the front of the funeral home as the family said their final good-bye's. This was the only time I was uncertain of wanting to be in an exclusive place. The parents went up, and the mother stayed quietly as the father & his sister stepped back giving her a final word with her late-son. A moment later we heard a wail, a god-awful, stomach shaking cry that went from the front of the room with the casket to God's ear itself. She was inconsolable, and we didn't know what to do. We, our late-friends' ushers, were all shallow in experiences of the world. One of us, just back from his new Naval station, walked up, took the woman by the arms, lifted her bodily, always cooing her name, saying "He's gone. Now we have to go."

The funeral director closed and sealed the coffin, and we, the pallbearers carried it out by the brass handles. It always felt as if it may slip from one hand or another, mine or the guy next to me, or in front of me, or opposite of me ... i was never suere who'd drop it or if this would be no problem.

Sadly, it was no problem. We carried our dead friend to his hearse, into the church, out of the church and to his final destination at a hillside spot next to a small grove of trees behind a minor airport. I wept quietly behind my sunglasses, and know I still miss my faux-brother, who taught me so many lessons in my life, and who made me a different kind of man. Maybe he partly made me the man I am today from the experiences we shared, and maybe I made myself one with the things we went through, but I am still someone special simply because he was in my life, even for a few years.

Many things haunt me. Many things make me smile. Many things shape me.

I guess that's all I can say for now ...

Blessings,

Julian

New Cartoon - ReOnion

Just Something To Listen To ...

SIXX:A.M. LYRICS - "Life Is Beautiful"

You can't quit until you try

You can't live until you die

You can't learn to tell the truth

Until you learn to lie

You can't breathe until you choke

You gotta laugh when you're the joke

There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful.

Will you swear on your life,

That no one will cry at my funeral?

I know some things that you don't

I've done things that you won't

There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home

I was waiting for my hearse

What came next was so much worse

It took a funeral to make me feel alive

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful.

Will you swear on your life,

That no one will cry at my funeral?

Alive...

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful.

Will you swear on your life,

That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful.

Will you swear on your life,

That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes

Just open your eyes

And see that life is beautiful.

Will you swear on your life,

That no one will cry at my funeral?