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There's more ... a lot more. For example, Canadian banks are quite willing to allow companies whose charters have lapsed (and that no longer have any legal status) to open up bank accounts. So, just find a defunct company, pay the fees to "revive" it for a year so you can get your hands on a valid charter without too many questions, then let it lapse at the end of the year. Now, you have the perfect shell company for whatever fraud you want to perpetrate - money-laundering, check-kiting, fake invoices, you name it.

This was supposed to have been fixed after the Ateliers Hall scam a couple of decades ago, but when I started investigating, I found that zombie companies can still do banking in Canada.

When confronted with hard evidence (cheques written against a zombie company account), the Bank of Montreal promised to get back to me, but never did. Not ONE of Canada's top banks did, because they're all scared that the minute they admit it publicly, they'll be liable for lawsuits from anyone who receives a bogus cheque. Ongoing flaws such as this are part of why the Royal Bank of Canada settled with investors who were scammed out of $50 million by Earl Jones - "Canada, the best banking system in the world" is no stranger to corruption.

... which reminds me - since this is one of the ways that bribe money is laundered and/or paid, I need to send a link to the Charboneau Commission - it would be no big deal to require every bank to verify, on an annual basis, that the corporate charter of each of their customers is still valid - all it requires is a script to scrape the government's web site, and a list of companies for each branch. It would also weed out crooks using a duplicate of an official charter by comparing corporate officer info with the official list. Hopefully, the judge will have more luck getting answers out of them than I did.

Maybe you're referring to this link (gotten from "Tom's" Journal):
http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/

Personally, I'd get Anonymous involved. The police generally only want to persecute victimless crimes like drug use and prostitution. Anonymous are the ones to rely on when it comes to exposing corruption of businesses and government.

Or,

Somebody could build a name and shame website. The interns post their 'report cards' on the companies. Interns must use their full names.

Just an idea. Play to the fact that companies like to have a good image.

Or you can name them right here on slashdot, either in the main thread, like Starmedia Communications Inc. which is run by a scammer who uses interns as free labour and steals code, or in your sig (see mine), or in your slashdot journal (google now indexes user journals) or on a subdomain devoted to exposing them. Same with John Abbott College and their useless training programs. Same with the various government departments (too numerous to name here - just follow the links), or my current investigation of the bank (BMO) that appears to have allowed a company that was dissolved over a year ago to continue to have a corporate bank account (see the "Coming soon" on the left side).

Of course, most slashdotters are to *cluck cluck" CHICKEN "cluck cluck" to do so. All talk and no action.

Here's the thing. Nobody's going to do it all for them. If the company is screwing over interns, they're probably doing the same elsewhere. However, interns aren't going to expose them, since that will mean that they won't pass their course, and they'll be "marked" as trouble-makers. It's time for those of us who have been around the block to "pay it forward" a bit, and expose the crap.

Some companies won't work with you afterward? So what - you didn't want to work with crooks, cheats, and scoundrels anyway. What's stopping you from naming names right here, where people in the industry can read them? Are you all too busy "cluck cluck cluck"ing?

Canada isn't an intern paradise. There are plenty of people in federally and provincially-subsidized job retraining programs doing internships for less than the legal minimum wage.

Canada is no better than the U.S.

This is in fact illegal in Canada

Someone hasn't told all those advertisers on kijiji.ca who are looking for unpaid interns to fix up their web sites and do all sorts of "promotional work".

The government doesn't give a sh*t. Not when government-subsidized job interns are working for free on an illegal lottery-type contest draw to promote a phony group-buying site with a bunch of phony "sponsors" and "partners" for a company that is just as fake, and when you report it, they do nothing.

Again, Canada is no better than the U.S. in this respect. As long as intern programs can make it look like the government is "doing something" about jobs, nothing will change.

Canada is no better than the U.S.

This is in fact illegal in Canada

Someone hasn't told all those advertisers on kijiji.ca who are looking for unpaid interns to fix up their web sites and do all sorts of "promotional work".

The government doesn't give a sh*t. Not when government-subsidized job interns are working for free on an illegal lottery-type contest draw to promote a phony group-buying site with a bunch of phony "sponsors" and "partners" for a company that is just as fake, and when you report it, they do nothing.

Again, Canada is no better than the U.S. in this respect. As long as intern programs can make it look like the government is "doing something" about jobs, nothing will change.

Canada is no better than the U.S.

This is in fact illegal in Canada

Someone hasn't told all those advertisers on kijiji.ca who are looking for unpaid interns to fix up their web sites and do all sorts of "promotional work".

The government doesn't give a sh*t. Not when government-subsidized job interns are working for free on an illegal lottery-type contest draw to promote a phony group-buying site with a bunch of phony "sponsors" and "partners" for a company that is just as fake, and when you report it, they do nothing.

Again, Canada is no better than the U.S. in this respect. As long as intern programs can make it look like the government is "doing something" about jobs, nothing will change.

Canada is no better than the U.S.

This is in fact illegal in Canada

Someone hasn't told all those advertisers on kijiji.ca who are looking for unpaid interns to fix up their web sites and do all sorts of "promotional work".

The government doesn't give a sh*t. Not when government-subsidized job interns are working for free on an illegal lottery-type contest draw to promote a phony group-buying site with a bunch of phony "sponsors" and "partners" for a company that is just as fake, and when you report it, they do nothing.

Again, Canada is no better than the U.S. in this respect. As long as intern programs can make it look like the government is "doing something" about jobs, nothing will change.

If an unpaid internship is a requirement, they can just register a dot.com for $8, set up a phony website, and have one of their relatives or friends (the "president" or "CIO") listed as the site owner and another as the admin in the registration info. Copy one of the better Nigerian scam "legal" sites, and get your letter confirming your internship, and your great evaluation, from them.

You think they're going to check? Colleges already place interns with companies that don't exist. When students complain to the college, they're told that "perhaps they shouldn't look too closely." The reality is that the college doesn't want to lose the $15k per student that the government pays for what is really make-work mickey mouse courses.

The whole job training thing is a scam that benefits everyone but the interns.

Maybe because internships are one of the biggest BS things going, but most of the people involved don't want to admit it because it goes against their own interests. Schools won't admit it, companies that use them won't admit it, and the students won't call BS because they won't graduate if they do ... so the cycle continues.

Interns are asked to pirate software, defraud job training programs, file off GPL copyrights, help defraud customers, and all sorts of crap

Internships benefit the teachers, the colleges, and the politicians who say "we're doing something to help train people". It's all BS.

Maybe because internships are one of the biggest BS things going, but most of the people involved don't want to admit it because it goes against their own interests. Schools won't admit it, companies that use them won't admit it, and the students won't call BS because they won't graduate if they do ... so the cycle continues.

Interns are asked to pirate software, defraud job training programs, file off GPL copyrights, help defraud customers, and all sorts of crap

Internships benefit the teachers, the colleges, and the politicians who say "we're doing something to help train people". It's all BS.

Maybe because internships are one of the biggest BS things going, but most of the people involved don't want to admit it because it goes against their own interests. Schools won't admit it, companies that use them won't admit it, and the students won't call BS because they won't graduate if they do ... so the cycle continues.

Interns are asked to pirate software, defraud job training programs, file off GPL copyrights, help defraud customers, and all sorts of crap

Internships benefit the teachers, the colleges, and the politicians who say "we're doing something to help train people". It's all BS.

Maybe because internships are one of the biggest BS things going, but most of the people involved don't want to admit it because it goes against their own interests. Schools won't admit it, companies that use them won't admit it, and the students won't call BS because they won't graduate if they do ... so the cycle continues.

Interns are asked to pirate software, defraud job training programs, file off GPL copyrights, help defraud customers, and all sorts of crap

Internships benefit the teachers, the colleges, and the politicians who say "we're doing something to help train people". It's all BS.

Maybe because internships are one of the biggest BS things going, but most of the people involved don't want to admit it because it goes against their own interests. Schools won't admit it, companies that use them won't admit it, and the students won't call BS because they won't graduate if they do ... so the cycle continues.

Interns are asked to pirate software, defraud job training programs, file off GPL copyrights, help defraud customers, and all sorts of crap

Internships benefit the teachers, the colleges, and the politicians who say "we're doing something to help train people". It's all BS.

Because they can block adbanners & he's a webmaster, obviously & better than other tools do like adblock (email is covered too in programs like outlook by HOSTS for example):

"such as I'm doing at http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ and ran a few banner ads years ago on one of them - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

FROM http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2263468&cid=36546134

That says it all really tomhudson along with the fact you tried to stalk & troll me by ac replies and stated you were trying to start a cooridinated effort with others to do so, harassing myself:

---

tomhudson libelling myself in regards to my professional career:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1992296&cid=35186644

---

You're also libeling myself yet again & lying:

"I have never libeled you, APK. Everything I have written about him is the truth." - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

FROM -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2263468&cid=36546134

No it is not tomhudson, & that's more lies + libel of myself.

---

You have stated here on this forum publicly I have never worked in this industry:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1992296&cid=35192078

---

And that my programs are only front ends to various things:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35840802

Yet another utter lie (and libel designed to harm my career obviously).

Some are of course, & so what? Many, in fact MOST, are not.

---

You have said I live with my parents & other things designed to harm my reputation here:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35840802

Another lie. I own my own home paid in full. You are a person with severe issues of somekind I am certain of this by this point.

APK

P.S.=> The list goes on, but as anyone can see reading you have issues, and that you have done so by using anonymous coward replies to harass myself as well:

---

Wait until he starts on another kick, then reply to him as an AC. It's the new meme. - by tomhudson (43916) on Sunday May 09 2010, @08:29PM (#32150544) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1646272&cid=32150544

---

HOWTO: trolling the hosts file guy in one easy step

The next time you see a post by him, just reply anonymously. And to really mess with his head, reply anonymously to your anonymous post, disagreeing with your first anon post (extra points if you claim in the second post that you're him - that REALLY sets him off). He'll accuse you of being me by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @01:38PM (#35841122) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35841122

---

if you're going to tell this guy to stop spamming his hosts file crap, make sure you do it anonymously by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @12:45PM (#35840680) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086920&cid=35840680

3 times tomhudson?

on HOSTS files then, because they can block adbanners, obviously & better than other tools do like adblock (email is covered too in programs like outlook by HOSTS for example):

"such as I'm doing at http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ and ran a few banner ads years ago on one of them - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

FROM http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2263468&cid=36546134

That says it all really tomhudson along with the fact you tried to stalk & troll me by ac replies and stated you were trying to start a cooridinated effort with others to do so, harassing myself:

---

tomhudson libelling myself in regards to my professional career:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1992296&cid=35186644

---

You're also libeling myself yet again & lying:

"I have never libeled you, APK. Everything I have written about him is the truth." - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

FROM -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2263468&cid=36546134

No it is not tomhudson, & that's more lies + libel of myself.

---

You have stated here on this forum publicly I have never worked in this industry:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1992296&cid=35192078

---

And that my programs are only front ends to various things:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35840802

Yet another utter lie (and libel designed to harm my career obviously).

Some are of course, & so what? Many, in fact MOST, are not.

---

You have said I live with my parents & other things designed to harm my reputation here:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35840802

Another lie. I own my own home paid in full. You are a person with severe issues of somekind I am certain of this by this point.

APK

P.S.=> The list goes on, but as anyone can see reading you have issues, and that you have done so by using anonymous coward replies to harass myself as well:

---

Wait until he starts on another kick, then reply to him as an AC. It's the new meme. - by tomhudson (43916) on Sunday May 09 2010, @08:29PM (#32150544) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1646272&cid=32150544

---

HOWTO: trolling the hosts file guy in one easy step

The next time you see a post by him, just reply anonymously. And to really mess with his head, reply anonymously to your anonymous post, disagreeing with your first anon post (extra points if you claim in the second post that you're him - that REALLY sets him off). He'll accuse you of being me by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @01:38PM (#35841122) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35841122

---

if you're going to tell this guy to stop spamming his hosts file crap, make sure you do it anonymously by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @12:45PM (#35840680) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086920&cid=35840680

3 times tomhudson? F

on HOSTS files then, because they can block adbanners:

"such as I'm doing at http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ [trolltalk.com] and ran a few banner ads years ago on one of them - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

That says it all really tomhudson along with the fact you tried to stalk & troll me by ac replies and stated you were trying to start a cooridinated effort with others to do so, harassing myself:

Wait until he starts on another kick, then reply to him as an AC. It's the new meme. - by tomhudson (43916) on Sunday May 09 2010, @08:29PM (#32150544) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1646272&cid=32150544

HOWTO: trolling the hosts file guy in one easy step

The next time you see a post by him, just reply anonymously. And to really mess with his head, reply anonymously to your anonymous post, disagreeing with your first anon post (extra points if you claim in the second post that you're him - that REALLY sets him off). He'll accuse you of being me by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @01:38PM (#35841122) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086424&cid=35841122

if you're going to tell this guy to stop spamming his hosts file crap, make sure you do it anonymously by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday April 16, @12:45PM (#35840680) Homepage Journal

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2086920&cid=35840680

3 times tomhudson? For over a year now also??

(Appears you've degnerated into a cyberstalker tomhudson, and even trying to get others to do it with you in your own words as shown above)

See professional help of somekind... because you didn't do very well @ it as your tomhudson account as shown below:

TOM HUDSON'S "FAIL LIST" ON DISPROVING MY POINTS ON HOSTS FILES NUMEROUS TIMES:

(Since HOSTS can block adverts online/adbanners so you get more speed, &, so you are protected vs. malicious content in online adbanners also)

---

tomhudson bullshit on HOSTS is outnumbered 30:1 vs. apk evidences:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2087330&cid=35847946

---

tomhudson BURNED on DNS vs. HOSTS and CPU cycles/memory & more used on HIS "ideas" vs. HOSTS vs. apk's ideas:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2087330&cid=35879374

---

tomhudson BURNED & RAN on HOSTS vs. VIRUSES vs. myself yet again:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2088808&cid=35877448

---

tomhudson says "hosts are so 90's" & apk's fellow RESPECTED security person wrote a noted article on them in 2009: (based on his readings of MY posts in forums no less)

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2088808&cid=35876806

---

You're also libeling myself yet again & lying:

"I have never libeled you, APK. Everything I have written about him is the truth." - by tomhudson (43916) on Thursday June 23, @03:56PM (#36546134) Homepage

FROM -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2263468&cid=36546134

No it is not tomhudson, & that's more lies + libel of myself.

---

You have stated here on this forum publicly I have ne

He would have known this if he had used a modern ad blocker instead of his stupid hosts file. He could have just disabled ad blocking on the site for a minute and seen that he had been totally p0wned by Rachel (all she did was exploit his willingness to lie and believe the worst of anyone when it suits his own warped purposes - and only after saying plenty of times that she was trolling him).

Of course, if I *had* been making money from http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ (as an example), there's nothing inherently wrong with that. That link is an ongoing example of citizen journalism, and I had to fight with my hosting company to reinstate it on that basis after starmedia's owner complained about my exposing his frauds. Reporters in other media make money off their journalistic endeavors, just as they do on the Internet. I choose not to. Who knows, maybe in some future alternate reality I'll become a rich and famous investigative reporter, (yeah, right :-) but right now, it's about exposing fraud and doing the right thing, not about monetization.

I certainly don't look down on traditional journalists - I'm meeting with one next week to discuss the whole starmedia mess as well as get a preview the stuff I haven't published yet. This is the future of news - cooperative, as well as competitive. It's about negotiating with hosting companies to not shut you down when a scammer complains that you're ruining their "business model," but instead acknowledge that citizen journalism is part of the common good and as such overrides any limitation of the TOS. It's about having other slashdotters ready to mirror your reporting if censorship stays in place. It's about reporting stuff even when it means you open yourself up to lawsuits, because it's the right thing to do.

Plenty of people run ads on their sites to take at least some of the financial bite out of it. I don't. Not because there's anything wrong with it in principle, I just haven't bothered to consider it, in part because of privacy concerns with ad-tracking/user-tracking. Ad servers that track you from site to site are just plain wrong, and I'll never have anything to do with them. The old-fashioned "pay per view with no tracking" I have no similar ethical issues with, but right now, I want to focus on other stuff instead.

APK (Alexander Philip Kowalski) has serious issues, he's been cyberstalking me for some time, and his "reality" needs some serious meds. He should do himself and the world a favor and go HOSTS file himself :-)

And those are probably your good points.

Your obsessive crap-floods are why I advise others to post AC when replying to you - it makes you go nuts (which is a bonus), but the real reason is preventing you from stalking them the way you do me, since I don't post as an AC, and am easy to follow.

Those of us who have followed your personal obsession with me for some time know the real reason you're so obsessed with me, and it has nothing to do with your stupid hosts file. And we're laughing at you, because you can't come out in the open and admit the real reason, because you haven't got the guts. Think of it - of the almost 600 people who have friended me on slashdot (and the thousands more who just happen to take a peek once in a while because I'm sometimes interesting, sometimes funny), I think about half of them know the real reason, and we're all laughing at you.

BTW, are you a monkey-f*cking, goat-dick-sucking serial pedophile? Just asking, because that's got to be at least as likely as my being "greedy" because I run some sites that don't take any paid advertising whatsoever, and promote giving away GPL code (including my own), expose fraud such as I'm doing at http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ and ran a few banner ads years ago on one of them (not trolltalk.com) telling people to OMG HOW EVIL OF ME get firefox because your beloved IE sucked.

Poor APK. Do yourself and the world a favor: Go HOSTS FILE yourself. And lose some weight.

I fund trolltalk out of my pocket. I have never asked for, or received, even a penny for it. Right now, one subdomain (http://starmedia.trolltalk.com) is being used to expose the frauds and confidence games of Alex Cholella and his starmedia.ca and 770star.com businesses. Again, not a penny of revenue will ever be generated from that, even though whistleblowing can result in a lot of legal expenses - but I think it's worth the risk to expose a fraud, and to show others that we really need to stand up against this sort of crap,or we become part of the problem through our silence.

It's because I don't accept revenue in any shape or form for the domain that I was able to hold firm when the hosting company yanked the site for two days while we debated whether http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ was citizen journalism or not. It's to their credit that they agreed that it is, and access to the site was restored. Score one for all the people on slashdot who offered to mirror it, and my restraint in not making a big deal out of it by exploiting the Streisand Effect. If I were generating revenue from it, you can be darned sure that I would have submitted the suspension as a story about censorship of citizen reporting, rather than saying "Great, we've resolved that, no harm, no foul, let's move on".

In the future, part of trolltalk will be used for promoting "l'Art de la troll" - "The art of trolling", as webmistressrachel wants, and as a discussion forum for how white-hat trolling is a skill that is needed today to counter misogynist asshats like you (and how this has always been the case, we just didn't call it that in times past).

White-hat trolling is educational, informative, insightful, and gets past all the bafflegab that people have erected to ignore reality, making them respond on a gut level, and exposing their prejudices and illogic. When someone like gmhowell says he occasionally trolls, it's not necessarily a bad thing - especially when the target is either you or me (he admits he does it to me anonymously on occasion to keep me honest, and I have no problems with that :-)

You, on the other hand, are a fool, and so SO easily played that you're like the Titanic - you serve as an example of what NOT to do. And you keep giving others, including me, opportunities to prove it when we have a few spare moments. The simple fact is that if you had been using modern ad-blockers instead of a hosts file, you would have been able to see immediately that there are no ads on ANY of my personal domains. The only ads I have ever run were banners for open-source projects - for example, firefox when they were doing their big push, or openoffice before the Oracle debacle.

Oh, right - giving free advertising for free open-source projects licensed under the GPL makes me greedy ... I think it would be a good thing if everyone were at least as "greedy" as me.

Moron! Rachel's going to get a real kick out of how she completely p0wned you, even after warning you many times that she was trolling you.

I fund trolltalk out of my pocket. I have never asked for, or received, even a penny for it. Right now, one subdomain (http://starmedia.trolltalk.com) is being used to expose the frauds and confidence games of Alex Cholella and his starmedia.ca and 770star.com businesses. Again, not a penny of revenue will ever be generated from that, even though whistleblowing can result in a lot of legal expenses - but I think it's worth the risk to expose a fraud, and to show others that we really need to stand up against this sort of crap,or we become part of the problem through our silence.

It's because I don't accept revenue in any shape or form for the domain that I was able to hold firm when the hosting company yanked the site for two days while we debated whether http://starmedia.trolltalk.com/ was citizen journalism or not. It's to their credit that they agreed that it is, and access to the site was restored. Score one for all the people on slashdot who offered to mirror it, and my restraint in not making a big deal out of it by exploiting the Streisand Effect. If I were generating revenue from it, you can be darned sure that I would have submitted the suspension as a story about censorship of citizen reporting, rather than saying "Great, we've resolved that, no harm, no foul, let's move on".

In the future, part of trolltalk will be used for promoting "l'Art de la troll" - "The art of trolling", as webmistressrachel wants, and as a discussion forum for how white-hat trolling is a skill that is needed today to counter misogynist asshats like you (and how this has always been the case, we just didn't call it that in times past).

White-hat trolling is educational, informative, insightful, and gets past all the bafflegab that people have erected to ignore reality, making them respond on a gut level, and exposing their prejudices and illogic. When someone like gmhowell says he occasionally trolls, it's not necessarily a bad thing - especially when the target is either you or me (he admits he does it to me anonymously on occasion to keep me honest, and I have no problems with that :-)

You, on the other hand, are a fool, and so SO easily played that you're like the Titanic - you serve as an example of what NOT to do. And you keep giving others, including me, opportunities to prove it when we have a few spare moments. The simple fact is that if you had been using modern ad-blockers instead of a hosts file, you would have been able to see immediately that there are no ads on ANY of my personal domains. The only ads I have ever run were banners for open-source projects - for example, firefox when they were doing their big push, or openoffice before the Oracle debacle.

Oh, right - giving free advertising for free open-source projects licensed under the GPL makes me greedy ... I think it would be a good thing if everyone were at least as "greedy" as me.

Moron! Rachel's going to get a real kick out of how she completely p0wned you, even after warning you many times that she was trolling you.

When that happens, you download an .stl file and print whatever object it is you wanted.

And if they put DRM into it so you can't just "print up whatever you want"?

We should all start our own lists of companies to boycott, giving the reasons why, rather than being afraid that they might sue us if we dare to name and shame them.

Sunlight - it works on vampires, you know. Shine a bit on the businesses that are screwing us, and maybe they'll shrivel up and die because nobody wants to be seen near them. What have you got to lose except your chains?

if you use google docs, you're letting an advertising company look at all your information.

Better one advertising company under a contract that doesn't let them do evil stuff with it

You argue for encryption and yet you trust an advertising company those CEO says If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Their job is not protecting your privacy. Their job is making money for their shareholders. And do you really think you'll win if you sue google? After all, they'd even have your correspondence with your lawyers, so they'll know your legal strategy.

Encrypt sensitive info as a separate attachment. It's the ONLY way to be sure. Anything else is not secure.

can easily squash PostgreSQL by just 'buying out' the top 20 developers

... like Sun quashed MySQL when Monty "sold out" ... oh, wait, it's still around ...

what a troll - and that was lying about what Stallman said

Can we get him put on some terr'rist list or something?

Maybe if he threw the people in jail who were behind the housing bubble, it would make a difference. For example, Warren Buffett, who owned the biggest chunk of both Moody's (one of the ratings agencies that made toxic mortgages possible and AIG (the guys who got an emergency $85 billion no-strings-attached initial bail-out - since increased - and then blew a half-million on a party).

Buffett's the biggest welfare recipient in the entire history of the world. Without the bailouts, and the subsequent lawsuits, he would have lost pretty much everything.

And Obama won't do shit, and you know it. Doubling the debt, then doubling it again, isn't the way to get out of debt. It just kicks the can down the road a few years.

Google might be trying to pass this off as "just a showcase", but their other "partners", including Motorola, gave Google a lot of information that is now being used against them.

And yes, I told you so!

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google..

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

That was 50% of the reason that I recently changed back from an Android phone to a 3GS (had a 2G before, hence the change "back"). I think it's important to understand how Google and it's CEO look at privacy, since you share EVERYTHING with them when you use an Android phone. The JesusPhone is not completely free of that "information grabbing", but you at least it's a bit more free.

The other 50% was that when I bought the Android phone, it was all about opensauce, lots of upgrades and GreatSuccess(TM). After 6 months of owning an Android the status was that Google had sent a lawyer-letter to Cyanogen (www.cyanogenmod.com), the ONLY guy that at least released SOME upgrades for people that bought a HTC Magic. HTC's support can't even tell when the buggy 1.5 release you get when buying a Magic would get an update to 1.6, 2.0 or 2.1. No more HTC or Android for me.

Who modded this offtopic? It's rather insightful, and for exactly those reasons I won't be getting an Android phone either.

Maybe Eric Schmidt (png image - safe for work unless your job is at the googleplex) has mod points and he's spying on us :-)

I would have answered YES to an android in December. Now, the answer would be NO. Not unless I can replace all the Google apps with something else.

What changed my mind? Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google..

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

This is the same guy who had Google blackball CNET after they published some of his personal info.

The guy's a hypocrite who simply can't be trusted any more. I don't need my phone spying on me for some guy who thinks his personal info is privileged, and yours and mine isn't.

And where's google's netbook? Same stage - it's only supposed to be released in time for Christmas 2010 - at the same price point - $200.00

The telecoms got their wakeup call when google started ordering gphones from HTC. Given a choice between offering a netbook from google or a tablet from another manufacturer, they will ALL avoid google. They know google is their future competitor.

Background: MySQL is an open-source database used by millions. Originally developed by closely-held Swedish company MySQL AB, it was sold to Sun Microsystems Inc in January 2008. Sun is now in the process of being acquired Oracle Corporation. The deal is still awaiting European regulatory approval.

Not happy with selling MySQL AB to Sun for a cool billion, Monty Widenius is now trolling regulators, the media, and anyone who will listen in his efforts to get back control of "his" database (without having to give back the money).

European regulators still don't "get" the open-source software model

The Europeans are holding up their approval of the Sun-Oracle deal because of concerns that the acquisition will reduce competition in the database industry. Oracle Corp, which is already the dominant player in large-scale corporate databases, already "controls" several open-source database products such as Oracle Berkeley DB and the InnoDB transactional storage engine for MysQL

The reason I put "controls" in quotes is because it's very difficult to actually exert full control an open-source project, especially one that is licensed under the GPL or similar open-source license. It would probably be more accurate to say that Oracle "sponsors" both BerkeleyDB and InnoDB.

It's all about being an unabashed hypocrite

Widenius was originally able to control MySQL by insisting that the copyright for all code contributed by outsiders be assigned to MySQL AB. By doing this, Widenius was able to "dual-license" MySQL, with both a free GPL version and a paid commercial version.

This licensing scheme was good enough when Widenius was in control of MySQL AB, but now that Oracle is buying Sun, suddenly Widenius wants both the licensing scheme changed to something that would allow his new company to sell modified copies without having to release the source code for their changes, and to have Oracle turn over control of MySQL to someone other than Oracle - perhaps the EU should consider (nudge nudge, wink wink) his new company, Monty Program AB?

Calls the GPL licensing scheme an "infection", wants the EU to violate international treaties

You can read more about the attempt to get the Europeans to retroactively change the licensing scheme from the GPL to something more "Monty Widenius-friendly":

We would like to draw attention to the fact that some major concerns about the effects of the proposed transaction could be somewhat alleviated by requiring that all versions of MySQL source code previously released under the GPLv2 license (whether in a General Availability, Release Candidate, Beta, Alpha release, or as public bazaar or bitkeeper revision control trees) must be released under a more liberal open source license that is usable also by the OEM users and would also create an opportuity for other service vendors to compete with offerings comparable to MySQL Enterprise.

In other words, he wants the European Union to violate Articles 9 and 12 of the Bern Convention on Copyrights and retroactively change the license from the GPL, which requires him to share any changes he makes to source code covered by the GPL, to a license that would let him take from the original authors, but not give back anything in return.

The "copyleft/infection" principle of the GPL license represents a particular obstacle not only to revenue generation by the fork vendor but also to the overall adoption and market penetration of MySQL, MySQL forks and MySQL storage engines....

When we were kids, our parents told us "share and share alike." The authors who contributed source code under the GPL adhered to this principle. If you don't want to share your changes, simply don't "borrow" their

Let's get back on-topic, since you keep refusing to address the real issues. The Irish passed a law against "blasphemy"? Is this "blasphemous" enough for you?

The only reason they have to buy MySQL is to kill it as a competitor because it is cutting into their sales. They certainly aren't going to incorporate any MySQL technology into their bread-and-butter product line.

The only reason they have to buy MySQL is that it is part and parcel of the Sun purchase. And they haven't gone around like Monty Widenius and his buddy, who are demanding that the EU violate the Bern Convention on Copyrights by invalidating the GPL on all versions of MySQL ever released.

They certainly aren't going to incorporate any MySQL technology into their bread-and-butter product line.

Ever thought that's probably because the codebases are incompatible, and not for any nefarious reasons?

Monty Widenius wants to use MySQL code without having to distribute his modifications, because that's the only way his new business (Monty Program AB) can survive - by keeping the modifications closed. This is why he wants the EU to change the licensing - not just going forward, but retroactively. Totally illegal under international treaty, btw, but spoiled brat Monty doesn't care. He wants what he wants, and damn the GPL.

He was told at least once. If he was specifically told to not leave his car, it is not in his account or the account the officers gave. If he was told more than once to get in the car, it is not in his or the officer's account.

Really? Follow the links: http://trolltalk.com/blog/blog/article.php?story=20091212120550767

UPI adds this:

Watts alleges the incident occurred after customs officers stopped his vehicle and ordered him to remain in the vehicle as they searched it.

The author said he exited the car and demanded to know why his car was being searched, allegedly prompting Tuesday's conflict.

Police in Port Huron, Mich., insist Watts refused repeated requests to return to his vehicle during the search and became aggressive once officers attempted to handcuff him.

Also, you appear to not understand the 14th Amendment. When I wrote:

Due process under the 14th Amendment doesn't guarantee freedom from all searches - only that they conform to procedures that do not affect your life, liberty, or property without giving you a legal process to seek redress, also known as "due process".

... and you replied ...

What process did they go through, and did they let him know? What is the difference between a "due process" that is hidden, unannounced, secret, and arbitrary versus an "undue process"? Which was this, and how could he know without asking?

... you apparently don't understand, even though I explained it, what "due process" is. In this case, it's the process of going to COURT if he wants to contest the search - NOT the procedures they followed to do the search, which are covered under international treaty. Please, go read the 14th Amendment again.

The guy was being a total dickhead. There's no defending his actions. It's not like he was from Quebec and didn't understand English - he's from Ontario, and was crossing from Michigan to Ontario. He was stopped after the toll, told his car was being searched, got out of his car, was told (twice) to get back into it, refused both times.

When you're pulled over by a cop and asked for your drivers license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration and to STAY IN YOUR CAR, you don't then get out of your car, and when told to get back in your car, refuse, do you?

The guy made 4 mistakes - getting out of the car in the first place, not going back in the first time he was asked to, not going back in the second time he was asked to, and trying to create a scene when they finally said, "you won't let us do our jobs, we're arresting you."

At any point, he could have chosen not to escalate. In Canada, the courts have held that Canadians have a right to say "Fuck you!" to a police officer when they feel the officer is acting outside the scope of the law - there is no requirement to be polite - that doesn't mean Canadians have the right to say it in the US. The US doesn't enjoy the same set of freedoms. Some areas more, some areas less ...

Keep defending him if you want, but (1) read the 14th Amendment, and (2) check out what he *doesn't* say in his blog post. He doesn't say that he didn't resist arrest.

In a follow-up post, he says he was pulling away, and that shouldn't be considered "aggressive behaviour", but "retreat." Police would consider it "attempting to flee" or "resisting arrest."

If, instead of trying to "retreat", he had apologized for being a total dork, they might have just finished the search, ran his ID, then uncuffed him and let him off with a warning. Cops don't like filling in paperwork any more than you or I do.

And for another, he repeated the question once. That is, he uttered one sentence (not two) from the time he was ordered back into his car until he was arrested.

Nice way to try to confuse the issue. He wast told TWICE to get back into his car. From his own account:

If you buy into the Many Worlds Intepretation of quantum physics, there must be a parallel universe in which I crossed the US/Canada border without incident last Tuesday. In some other dimension, I was not waved over by a cluster of border guards who swarmed my car like army ants for no apparent reason; or perhaps they did, and I simply kept my eyes downcast and refrained from asking questions.

Along some other timeline, I did not get out of the car to ask what was going on. I did not repeat that question when refused an answer and told to get back into the vehicle.

He was in the car, and was told to stay in the car (that's SOP for both customs and regular police stops). He got out, asked what they were doing, was told to get back in the car, and instead of doing so, again demanded to know what they were doing.

The agents aren't superheroes with super-speed. He could have gotten back in the car quicker than they could have gotten from the back of the car to the drivers' side door. He could have stayed in the car in the first place. He could have gotten back in the car when they told him to. One of the reasons they do that is to avoid exactly this sort of altercation. They can concentrate on doing their search quickly and with the least delay for the passengers, rather than having to keep one eye on them while doing the search, and maybe someone doing something stupid - avoiding exactly what happened.

He stated he didn't touch anyone except while being beat.

False. His original post is quoted in its' entirety here - just in case he decides to edit it.

Next, you claim

Wait, they have the Right to search me, and I don't have the Right to be secure in my person and possessions?
...
He was on US soil, and you are claiming the Constitution doesn't apply. Yup, must be Republican.

Due process under the 14th Amendment doesn't guarantee freedom from all searches - only that they conform to procedures that do not affect your life, liberty, or property without giving you a legal process to seek redress, also known as "due process". If you believe a search was unreasonable, you have the constitutional right to a process to redress the grievance by, for example, asking that any evidence uncovered be suppressed. You *don't* have the right to refuse the search itself, or to interfere with it. If the search is legal - and the search of a vehicle entering or leaving the United States is legal under international law, as all countries have a sovereign right to police their borders - he has the right to due process after the fact. He doesn't have the right to interfere in a legal search that is recognized by treaty and international law.

You're the one who is claiming that the US Constitution doesn't apply, by trying to read into it more than is there. Your right to be "secure in your person and possessions" is limited, not absolute, and it is limited by the Constitution - more specifically, the 14th Amendment. Due process, not vigilantism or taking the law into your own hands.

He was a Canadian on US soil, and subject to all the rules of conduct that foreign nationals are subject to as guests in the US. As a Canadian who was visiting the US, it was his duty to know what those rules are - "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Having said that, they didn't treat him any different that the police back in his home province would have. If the Ontario Provincial Police had stopped him for, say, speeding, they w

Yeah ... but fortunately the Bern Convention doesn't allow it. The worst part, of course,is that he wants to make this change retroactive, to ALL code that was ever released under the GPL.

We would like to draw attention to the fact that some major concerns about the effects of the proposed transaction could be somewhat alleviated by requiring that all versions of MySQL source code previously released under the GPLv2 license (whether in a General Availability, Release Candidate, Beta, Alpha release, or as public bazaar or bitkeeper revision control trees) must be released under a more liberal open source license that is usable also by the OEM users and would also create an opportuity for other service vendors to compete with offerings comparable to MySQL Enterprise. A good candidate is the Apache Software License.

Note the reference to how the GPL is an "infection":

The "copyleft/infection" principle of the GPL license represents a particular obstacle not only to revenue generation by the fork vendor but also to the overall adoption and market penetration of MySQL, MySQL forks and MySQL storage engines....

OMG GPL VIRUS STERILIZE STERILIZE STERILIZE!!! He wants to distribute GPL'd code in commercial products without having to also distribute the modified source.

Sure sounds like a greedy pig trolling the EU.

BTW - I hear Darl McBride is looking for a new gig. You don't suppose ... ?

OK but there's also the question of availability. Firebird is not readily available on most hosting plans. Postgres is getting there, most half-decent hosters will provide it. As for MySQL, it's everywhere. It's part of why it's so popular (and viceversa).

Which brings up an interesting question - why would any hosting provider switch to Widenius' "Monty Program AB" "MariaDB"? Monty took the money, now he's trying to get Oracle to dump MySQL and using the EU regulatory process as a form of blackmail ("Sun is bleeding millions every month - give MySQL up or else").

">Some would call it extortion.

http://trolltalk.com/blog/blog/article.php?story=20091212120550767

by his own account, he refused to get back in the car when ordered to. Cops with guns vs. arrogant Canuck prick with frozen brain == predictable outcome.

I caught you in an outright lie. You said the word piss didn't occur in the bible. You were wrong, and like most "true belevers", you can't admit it.

Unlike you, my reference library included the KJV, NKJV, NASB, TLB, Greek-English and Hebrew-English interlinear, and another half-dozen versions. And again, unlike you, I actually spent several years studying it, which is why I can state that it is full of shit.

Don't worry though, you'll realize I'm right one day when you're burning in Hell. Have a nice life...because the next one won't be.

Never happen. First, hell is supposed to be the absence of god, and as an atheist I'm already there, and loving it. Much better than the alternative, which is to be an empty-headed bumpkin who believes imaginary fairy tales.

Don't believe the bible is shit? Send an email to god and ask.

I could always say that's above my pay grade, but why not just send an email to the ultimate authority :-)

One bunch of retards fighting another because "God told them to."

I think "God" is often framed when people say this, no voice-hearing necessary to explain that.

Exactly. Further, there's no proof that EVERYTHING people do "because it's God's will" is a put-up job.

They could at least send God an email asking for confirmation.

Re #1: Its only an ethical problem if you think its an ethical problem. Most of it is pretty harmless/lame/stupid, so why not let people spend a few minutes once in a while looking at something they find easy on the eyes. Better than looking at this.

Re #3: He didn't report the kiddie porn to the police ... they're the ones who you report kiddie porn to, not your boss.

I can understand his frustration to a certain extent. Ever try to report child abuse? You'd better have a squeeky-clean past, because you can be sure that whoever you report is going to try to smear you. Its the same with accusing someone of holding kiddie porn. "Invasion of privacy" "You planted it - that's how come you knew where to look" etc.

Of course, if the kids DID encrypt their files before uploading, they'd have all those snoopy people wanting to know what sort of terr'rist crap they were into.

If the security is as poor as one system I got into a few years ago (3 attempts to get the default new user password, 1 to get the current school admin password - it was too easy to call it "hacking") ...

1. p0wn teacher's account
2. Upload shit like this or this
3. PROFIT!

Of course, if the kids DID encrypt their files before uploading, they'd have all those snoopy people wanting to know what sort of terr'rist crap they were into.

If the security is as poor as one system I got into a few years ago (3 attempts to get the default new user password, 1 to get the current school admin password - it was too easy to call it "hacking") ...

1. p0wn teacher's account
2. Upload shit like this or this
3. PROFIT!

Because the whole purpose of it is to spy on the kids ... duh! They even admit its one of the big "features."

Get kids used to it now, and they'll vote for it later. Same as the idea behind setting up the Hitler Youth (hey, its not a Godwin if its an appropriate reference :-).

Whoever proposed this is a dickhead. If the kids are smart, they'll bring bootable thumb drives with a bootable copy of peanut linux or some other mini-distro on it.

"It depends on the posted terms of entry."

Just because the post it doesn't mean its legal.

If they posted a sign saying they have a right to search your anal cavity with a cattle prod, would you agree that they have that right?

The law is clear that terms that go against public order, are illegal, or unconscionable, are to be ignored.

As for the whole "searching your bags" thing, they reserve the "right", but its not a right that they have. All they can do is ask to search your bags, and if you refuse, let you leave, unless its VERY blatant that a crime is being committed. They can't detain you by force, unless they want to go the "citizen's arrest" route - with all the potential liability that involves (yes, I've done the "citizen's arrest" thing once at a public protest, had lots of witnessess, detained the person until the police came and took over, but you had darned well be sure you're in the right). They can call the police, who have the right to stop you. If it turns out the complaint was wrong, the proper thing is for everyone to apologize, not be dickheads about it.

6. You show them your pr0n collection. Or you threaten to show them this dickhead or this and he hopefully goes blind ...

" Almost a fifth of those surveyed in a 2006 Israeli-American poll said they accessed online sex sites at work."

Yeah, riiiight ... only 1 in 5 surfs porn at work? Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Everyone knows the internet is for porn.

6. You show them your pr0n collection. Or you threaten to show them this dickhead or this and he hopefully goes blind ...

" Almost a fifth of those surveyed in a 2006 Israeli-American poll said they accessed online sex sites at work."

Yeah, riiiight ... only 1 in 5 surfs porn at work? Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Everyone knows the internet is for porn.

Citizen, you have resurrected the vanished komissar. This is prohibited by the DMCA and the PATRIOT Act. We kannot tell you exactly what you have infringed, that too is klassified as anti-capitalist behaviour.

You are obviously a either a kommunist or suffering some form of mental incapacity. Fortunately, in Soviet Amerika, we are generous, and give you the benefit of the doubt. We have reserved a room for you at the Gitmo Health Cpa and Vakation Resort.

Your bank account has been pre-billed so you kan take advantage of our generous discount rates.

We will take kare of informing your relatives, to spare you any embarrassment; Please sign this blank konfession^Wletter to them.

This is a picture of the last person who failed to show up for their health treatments. These are pictures of his family. Yes, it is most unfortunate, they were obviously deranged.

"- - My name is George Bush, and Dick Cheney Says I Approved This Message"

Citizen, you have resurrected the vanished komissar. This is prohibited by the DMCA and the PATRIOT Act. We kannot tell you exactly what you have infringed, that too is klassified as anti-capitalist behaviour.

You are obviously a either a kommunist or suffering some form of mental incapacity. Fortunately, in Soviet Amerika, we are generous, and give you the benefit of the doubt. We have reserved a room for you at the Gitmo Health Cpa and Vakation Resort.

Your bank account has been pre-billed so you kan take advantage of our generous discount rates.

We will take kare of informing your relatives, to spare you any embarrassment; Please sign this blank konfession^Wletter to them.

This is a picture of the last person who failed to show up for their health treatments. These are pictures of his family. Yes, it is most unfortunate, they were obviously deranged.

"- - My name is George Bush, and Dick Cheney Says I Approved This Message"