Darkened Eyes

It is now the end of Week 2 at my new job. I’ve learned quite a bit more this week about the job (and how to do it), seeing as how a decent majority of the time I’ve been hooked into the phones of one or two of the people on the call floor, listening and logging their interactions for them while they talk. I could now probably walk someone through a PKI token setup specific to their machine with my eyes closed.

Next Monday I start Connectivity training, where I begin learning the in-depth details of what each particular client my desk supports as far as hardware/software/networking/VPN/accessories/etc. I hope this will go quickly, because I honestly just want to get out on the call floor and start doing something productive.

More to come as life rolls on. Maybe some tech news later today, we’ll see.

As always, keep your eyes open.

So, here we are. My first week at C3i has been…well, kinda boring actually. It’s been mostly corporate training and learning the systems the organization uses, but after picking that up, I’ve been rather bored. It’s been pretty much repetition. It’s still learning though.

Now I’m preparing for client-specific training and learning on the specific desk I’ll be serving on. I hope this will be slightly more productive than the earlier training since I really just want to jump into the thick of things right from the get-go.

We’ll see as the day goes on, as well as next week.

As always, keep your eyes open.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have accomplished one of my recently-set goals. I have escaped the retail world. Last Wednesday was my official last working day as a Geek Squad Agent.

I have been working with Best Buy for over 4 years, and been in retail in general for close to 7. I feel that it is time I move on. The retail world has been…let’s just say an experience. I’ve witnessed the entire spectrum of the human mind, from the sane to the batshit crazy; from the incredibly glad to the deeply depressed.

I won’t miss it one bit.

I officially start my new job at C3I, Inc. in about 8 hours (so it would probably behoove me to go to bed sometime soon), and I’ll be performing Level 1 Helpdesk duties. I know, I know, helpdesk can be a total pile of shit, but I can honestly say it can’t be worse than retail. At least I get to sit down at work now.

I’ll post more about this new job once I get into the thick of it and learn about exactly what I’ll be doing. In the meantime, sweet water and light laughter, and keep your eyes open.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the Age of the Internet has truly dawned upon us. TIME magazine, known throughout the world, has named the owner and founder of the internet imageboard 4chan, moot, as it’s most recent Most Influential Person of the World.

As many of you are well aware, 4chan is the spawning point of many of the memes and fads that run rampant around the Internet, such as lolcats, rickrolling, and the spreading "So I herd you liek mudkipz?". It has also been the starting point for various events that have both amused and terrified many. The attacks on the Scientology religion by the group Anonymous started on 4chan.

4chan’s alternative nickname, the Internet Hate Machine, is mostly based around the various threads that appear on the site’s /b/ – Random board. Most of the other boards on the site don’t exhibit the same general attitude towards, well, anything. Many of the boards are geared around interaction about the various topics introduced, where /b/ mostly seems to be centered around generating the largest number of useless responses to posts, the largest pornography threads, disturbing the general public, and instigating disruptive events, both in cyberspace and in the real world. A prime example of this is the raids evidenced on the online social interaction game Habbo Hotel, where various 4channers dressed up as black men with afro haircuts and blocked entrances to Habbo’s pools, shouting "Pool’s closed due to AIDS!" and forming swastikas in the pool with their characters.

4chan has one of the largest userbases on the Internet, averaging 13 millions page views per day and around 5.6 million viewers per month, and those numbers just seem to go up. Moot has had to add servers (mostly via donated funds) many times in the past in order to handle the loads that the site generates.

Moot beat out such figures as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Oprah Winfrey, and Manny Pacquiao to obtain the title. Surprisingly, the vote was largely legitimate, though TIME’s server did catch and deflect many attacks attempting to influence the vote. As TIME put it, "To put the magnitude of the upset in perspective, it’s worth noting that everyone moot beat out actually has a job."

More information can be found, in addition to the complete list of finalists, at TIME.com.

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From TorrentFreak:

Just minutes ago the verdict in the case of The Pirate Bay Four was announced. All four defendants were accused of ‘assisting in making copyright content available’. Peter Sunde: Guilty. Fredrik Neij: Guilty. Gottfrid Svartholm: Guilty. Carl Lundström: Guilty. The four receive 1 year in jail each and fines totaling $3,620,000.

While only a few weeks ago, it seems like an eternity since the trial of The Pirate Bay Four ended and the court retired to consider its verdict. The prosecution claimed that the four defendants were ‘assisting in making copyright content available’ and demanded millions of dollars in damages. The defense did not agree, and all pleaded not guilty – backed up by the inimitable King Kong defense.

Today, Friday April 17, the court issued its decision. Here are the main points relating to each defendant (continually updated live);

Peter Sunde (born September 13, 1978) alias ‘brokep’:

Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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Fredrik Neij (born April 27, 1978) alias ‘TiAMO’:

Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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Gottfrid Svartholm (October 17, 1984) alias ‘Anakata’:

Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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Carl Lundström (born April 13, 1960)

Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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The court said that the four defendants worked as a team, were aware that copyrighted material was being shared using The Pirate Bay and that they made it easy and assisted the infringements. It categorized the infringements as ’severe’. The judge said that the users of The Pirate Bay committed the first offense by sharing files and the four assisted this.

While the court did not agree with the plaintiff’s exaggerated estimates of losses, it still set the damages at 30 million SEK ($3,620,000). This a hugely significant amount and the court has ordered that the four should pay this amount between them.

The judge also stated that the usage of BitTorrent at The Pirate Bay is illegal. Rest assured, other torrent sites hosted in Sweden will be keeping a close eye on developments.

The defense put it to the judge that he had folded under intense political pressure. The judge denied this stating that the court made its decision based on the case presented to them.

At one point the judge was asked if he was concerned for his personal safety after handing down this decision. The judge said he hadn’t received any harassment and was quite surprised at the question.

Peter Sunde has already explained that this decision does not mean the end of the line in this case. There will be an appeal which means we are still far away from the ultimate decision – possibly years away. The case is now expected to move to the high court. Both sides have three weeks to file a written appeal.

As for the fate of the site, Peter has already promised that The Pirate Bay will continue. The site itself was never on trial, only the four individuals listed above.Powered by Qumana