Where Are You Being Censored?

Google put up an interesting page this morning dealing with Transparency. As an international company, their primary goal is maximize free expression and access to information.
To promote transparency around this flow of information, they built an interactive online Transparency Report with tools that allow people to see where governments are demanding that we remove content and where Google services are being blocked. Google believes that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship.

I think it's a great start to identifying the problem areas in censorship. At the very least, it can allow users to figure out where in the world they are the most likely to be censored and avoid those areas.

It Used To Be... Science Fiction

Google Inc. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Office Dr. Eric Schmidt took to the keynote stage at IFA today to preview new technologies – including tools for Android-powered smartphones that translate conversations from one language to another as you speak.
This blogger would like to remind people that these technologies were considered the realm of science fiction only a decade ago.

Remember the Universal Translator of the Star Trek series? Say hello to Google-inspired "Voice-to-voice translation". It's not working yet, but at least someone is working on it. Google claims that it should be ready within a couple years.

While we're on the science-fiction curve with Star Trek... do you remember the Tricorder - the perpetual palm pilot of every away mission the crew went on? Those are already a reality with smartphones, the Google Droid leading the market. Smartphones help people by displaying data over photographs or video input in real time. A good example of this augmented reality is Google Maps with Street View.

Smartphones are truly becoming smarter and easier to use as well. New Droids, being produced right now by Google, offer voice command capability with the eventual goal of making it possible for you to get any piece of data or even TV program with a single voice command.

Schmidt said "more than 200,000 Android-powered smartphones are activated every day, and the Internet will soon deliver information to three or four billion people, not just the elite," via smartphones.
What are some other things that Schmidt envisions for the future?
"Your car should be able to drive itself! After all, your car knows where it is, knows where the other cars are and where it should be going."
"A near-term future in which you don’t forget anything, because the computer remembers. You’re never lost."
"We’re about to see a new age of augmented humanity, when computers will make it possible for us to do what we really want to do."

What about you. What would like to see in the near future?

42 Phrases A Lexophile Would Love

1. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
2. Police were called to a day care, where a three-year old was resisting a rest.
3. Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
4. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
5. To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
6. When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.
7. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large..
8. A thief who stole a calendar... go twelve months.
9. The burglar fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
10. Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
11. When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
12. A math professor went crazy with the blackboard and did a number on it.
13. The professor discovered that his theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
14. Dead batteries are frequently given out free of charge.
15. If you take a laptop computer out for a run, you could jog your memory.
16. A dentist and manicurist fought tooth and nail.
17. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
18. A will is a dead giveaway.
19. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
20. A backward poet writes inverse.
21. In a democracy, it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
22. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
23. If you don't pay your exorcist, you could get repossessed.
24. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
25. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft, and I'll show you A-flat miner.
26. When a clock gets hungry it goes back four seconds.
27. The guy who fell into an upholstery machine has fully recovered.
28. A grenade fell into a kitchen floor in France, and resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
29. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
30. Local Area Netowrk in Australia: The LAN down under.
31. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
32. A calendar's days are numbered.
33. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
34. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
35. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
36. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
37. When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
38. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
39. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
40. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
41. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
42. A lot of money is tainted: Taint yours, and it taint mine. 

The Holiest of Unions

Held together by equal parts of resin, hardener, and Holy Spirit.

New Games To Play

So, several months ago I started playing this new game I saw called MyBrute
The concept of the game was interesting. You start with a character/gladiator, and are given 3 fights a day to get XP and level up, making your character a much better fighter.
There were two big problems with this game!

^{The most common screen you'll ever see on MyBrute}

#1 - The MyBrute server is almost ALWAYS down! So a game that might normally take a month to make a cool character in, takes vastly longer.
#2 - When the server is running, it tends to crash at odd times. So sometimes you'll have a series of epic battles and lose XP instead of gaining it, or you won't get any XP...
Needless to say, MyBrute was entertaining when it was running, but frustrating when it wasn't!

Just the other day though, I discovered a new game that I've started playing. Urban Rivals is like MyBrute in several ways but without the horrible bugs included. Like MyBrute, Urban Rivals is a free game.
Urban Rivals allows you have more than one character. In an interesting Pokemon/RPG twist, the game involves collecting character cards and improve on your characters in a battle setting. Each character has strengths and weaknesses, and how you use them in battle determines how much XP you get. Unlike MyBrute, there is no limit on the amount of gameplay in a single day. I made it to level 10 on my first day after a couple hours of play - Getting to level 10 on MyBrute took me 8 months!
I'm having much more fun playing Urban Rivals. Come play with me! Here's the link to play: Urban Rivals.

Ubuntu Linux 11.04 Given a "N"ame

Ubuntu Linux 11.04 finally has a name; something more official sounding than "Maverick +1". Mark Shutterworth led the announcement with an entry on his blog.

11.04 will henceforth be called Natty Narwhal

The Narwhal, as an Arctic (and somewhat endangered) animal, is a fitting reminder of the fact that we have only one spaceship that can host all of humanity (trust me, a Soyuz won’t do for the long haul to Alpha Centauri). And Ubuntu is all about bringing the generosity of all contributors in this functional commons of code to the widest possible audience, it’s about treating one another with respect, and it’s about being aware of the complexity and diversity of the ecosystems which feed us, clothe us and keep us healthy. Being a natty narwhal, of course, means we have some obligation to put our best foot forward. First impressions count, lasting impressions count more, so let’s make both and make them favourable.

Suggested Changes to Monopoly Rules

Official Monopoly Rules Page

So I was playing Monopoly against my computer the other day and I had several ideas for changing the face of Monopoly. The rules of the game are listed above. Below are my proposed changes to the rulebook.

JAIL - According to the official rules you land in jail if... you roll doubles 3 times in a row. That's an understandable rule! No one likes a lucky so-n-so who manages to roll doubles over and over again and makes it around the board a couple times. However, also according to the official rules, you can get out of jail by rolling doubles again or paying $50. Does that sound odd too you? Do the crime three times and get stuck in jail, do the crime again and get out!? Or bribe someone and get out!?
I propose the following change to the JAIL rule. Every jail sentence carries a fixed term of 3 moves (no paying $50 to get out). The only way to get out of jail is to NOT roll doubles on any of your three turns spent in jail. If you roll doubles while in jail, your sentence is extended by an additional fixed number of turns.

MORTGAGED PROPERTY - According to the official rules "If the property is mortgaged, no rent can be collected."
This rule is outdated! There are many people living today who have one and two mortgages on their home and rental property and still collect rent.
I propose the following change to this MORTGAGE rule. If the property is mortgaged, rent is collected. The player who owns the mortgaged property receives 50% of the rent, and the bank receives 50% (the amount the bank receives is applied to the amount needed to unmortgage the propoerty). This is a cool rule cause you can pay off the mortgage on the property as people land on the property.

GIFT CARDS - Ever noticed how there never seems to be enough money in a Monopoly game for a game that has a lot of players or on games that last a long time (esp. with one player who is really successful).
This is a new rule I propose be added to Monopoly. All you need to play with this rule are index cards sufficent for each player.
Every player is issued a rechargable gift card (index card) at the beginning of the game. If at any time, the bank needs money it can seize funds from any player... and the amount seized is written on that player's index card. The index card is usuable like any gift card. When amounts are transferred from player to player (in the case of rent), the amount is simply subtracted from one index card and added to the other index card. No negative balances are allowed on gift cards. If the amount on the card is not sufficent to pay, then zero out the balance and pay the remaining in cash.

START ORDER - The official rules state: "Starting with the Banker, each player in turn throws the dice. The player with the highest total starts the play..."
Going first is a definite advantage, because you can buy properties before anyone else gets there. So why not make players pay for the advantage?
My proposed rule is this: At the start of the game, bid for first position, then second, etc. This can cripple the player in the lead, who may have used a significant portion of his money to secure first place.

ONCE AROUND THE BOARD - Another alternative to figuring out start order instead of bidding on who goes first is not to let anyone purchase property until they have been around the board once and passed GO.