Well with YouTube you’re in luck – as of the date of this post, there have been no changes to the Channel Uploads RSS feed. It has just been hidden from your browser’s “Subscribe” feature. All you have to do is take the existing YouTube Channel Uploads subscription in your feed reading software, and copy and paste into a new one with the channel name changed.

NOTE: These instructions only apply to the Channel Uploads feed.

The Channel Uploads feed for YouTube user HowToVanish is:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/base/users/howtovanish/uploads?alt=rss&v=2&orderby=published&client=ytapi-youtube-profile

Replace “howtovanish” in the above example with the name of the channel you wish to subscribe to, and you have that channel’s RSS feed.

Enjoy!

(The blackout on the X-Cop Fly Company blog started a few hours late for EST people such as myself, since the plugin I used here had a bug, and I could not upgrade to the fixed version until I woke up yesterday. Rogue Central @ coredumpcentral.org followed the full 8AM-8PM EST blackout.)

Why did I not announce this? Especially after posting material from Rogue Central @ coredumpcentral.org on the VOGONS forum just a few hours prior?

This was done deliberately. When you give the President dictatorial powers over the Internet, your business will just freeze. All financial transactions will be put on hold, including the ability to hire a lawyer. Already Obama has shut down thousands of domains using assumed nonexistent power. Many of these sites had a valid legal case, with Obama refusing to show any justification for his actions.

SOPA/PIPA is being sold in terms of how and when the MAFIAA will use it for copyright purposes. But the real issue is the amount of power given to the President over any business he feels like targeting, a further moving America away from capitalism and towards government-managed Hitler/Mussolini/FDR fascism. SOPA/PIPA enables the President to cut off any enterprise’s commercial activity (including hiring lawyers) and seize any property he wants.

SOPA/PIPA also subliminally targets Wikileaks-like organizations, since they often host copyrighted material as well as material exposing the fallibility of the governments of the world, and were subject to similar cutoffs from capitalism.

In other words, SOPA/PIPA gives dictatorial powers to one man. Obama has already seized banks, investments, and car companies, it’s only natural that he wants to seize the establishment’s biggest enemy, the Internet, and anything else he feels like seizing.

See these two articles and the podcast I appeared on regarding SOPA/PIPA’s non-piracy-related consequences:

• The Blacklist Bills Are Just Plain Silly
• Hussein Obama’s Upcoming Dictatorship: The Virtual World & The Physical World
• Podcast: SOPA, S. 1867, and the Police State

Again, remember that if SOPA/PIPA becomes law, all it takes is a single copyrighted sentence on a Web site, and any business in the country can be destroyed, anytime, anywhere, and forever.

Here’s something even more bizarre from the New York gubernatorial debate:

And as the taco became a TV debate about free market economics in my dream, Sean Hannity is on right now debating rent control in light of this debate. It’s actually great marketing, a catchy phrase – “The Rent is Too Damn High!” You can go to the official Web site and buy “The Rent is Too Damn High!” T-shirts.

Help me here. What is it about “virtual goods”–imaginary own-ables in online community or commercial fake-world games–that leads Americans to shell out a projected $1.6 billion this year in our jobless economy?

Facebook hosts and profits from the virtual barnyard antics of FarmVille (75 million monthly active users) and a raft of other digital cosmos in which players pay real dollars for non-existent items that can get them ahead in play.

Which brings me back to reality: Aren’t we in a big recession? The 9.6% unemployment rate should theoretically mean less cash to spend on tangible necessities, much less made-up stuff like fertilizer for friends’ FarmVille crops.

Virtual goods certainly make sense from game-makers’ and sponsoring corporations’ point of views–they get real money in trade for game advancement which costs them nothing. This spring, 7-Eleven stores offered Farmville, YoVille and Mafia Wars points with certain fast-food purchases like Slurpees and iced coffee, points that would have cost players about $3 as virtual goods. In June, Green Giant gave away FarmVille Farm Cash with purchases of its fresh produce. Business-wise, it’s a win-win.

I’m not a current Facebook user, but have used it in the past, as well as other games which offer such real-money advancements. My reaction is simply this: I didn’t think anyone actually bought anything.

I also concur with Ms. Medved:

Maybe I just don’t get it; if not, enlighten me. Otherwise, I’d rather pursue a virtuous life than a virtual one.

see more EpicFail

Also, I took out Diablo and Diablo II after about 10 years. I don’t think I ever or barely played Diablo II, but it’s the only option now, being the latest (an expansion pack called “Lord of Destruction” came later, and Diablo III is on the way), and Diablo I has been rendered totally useless by hackers. (Diablo II has spamming issues but nothing too bad.) I was never a “gaming” type, but I forgot how fun these games were.

So once these tapes are transferred I’ll be back to blogging (and doing other things) more often.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor predicted Thursday that a case involving WikiLeaks would likely come before the court.

She said that the WikiLeaks “incident,” in which the group posted thousands of classified Afghanistan war documents online, “and others are going to provoke legislation that’s already being discussed in Congress, and so some of it is going to come up before [the Supreme Court.]“

When I read this, I recalled WikiLeaks’ claim that the New York Times was involved:

(Click images for full size.)

The New York Times has claimed involvement in the processing of these memos:

Again, here is the statement from Justice Sotomayor:

She said that the WikiLeaks “incident,” in which the group posted thousands of classified Afghanistan war documents online, “and others are going to provoke legislation that’s already being discussed in Congress, and so some of it is going to come up before [the Supreme Court.]“

Given that the New York Times has a strong left-wing bias, could this also be a pre-engineered vehicle by the Democratic Party to support a massive regulatory change in the Internet?

Keep in mind recent lobbying efforts for a “Drudge tax” on blogs to subsidize the newspaper industry, as well as changes in “fair use” laws so as to require a “copyright license” to quote news material, and proposed propaganda efforts claiming the mainstream media is a “reputable” “public service”.

“The power to tax is the power to destroy” -McCullock v. Maryland, 1819

Blogthings: What Flavor Pudding Are You?

Your Brain is Conceptual

You can’t help but look at the big picture. You’re good at putting things together. You think long term. You always have a vision for the future and an idea of how you want things to be. You are a very intuitive person. Even though you are constantly thinking, it feels like answers just appear for you. You enjoy a challenge, especially an intellectual one. You are constantly taking the initiative and pushing yourself.

Blogthings: What’s Your Brain Like?

You Are a Cat

You are agile and mysterious. You have you own way of navigating the world. You enjoy exploring new ideas and places, but you also like to be able to retreat quickly. You are a bit standoffish and aloof, but you aren’t shy. In fact, you are brave and courageous. Always resourceful and fearless, you can handle any situation. You are a survivor.

Blogthings: What Origami Animal Are You?

You Have a Hippie Soul

You are free as the wind, and you don’t like following rules. You’re open minded and nonjudgemental. You just enjoy the journey of life. You’re neither a leader nor a follower. You’re own your own blissful path. You believe that people should love more and hate less. It’s really that simple.

Blogthings: Is Your Soul Hippie, Punk, or Goth?

You Should Be Elected US Senator

You have a strong interest in political issues – both on a state and local level. You love to debate for debating’s sake. You could argue for hours. You are dignified and well spoken. People naturally want to give you authority. You are a wheeler and dealer. You are willing to compromise a little to get what you want.

Blogthings: What Office Should You Be Elected To?

I’ll try not to whine as much as I did years ago on other blogs.

1. Started going to Bingo at my local church two weeks ago. Last week I won 3 games.

2. Went to a Tea Party march yesterday. I was surprised how many people honked and cheered for us on the street – it was in Monroe County, PA, traditionally Democratic. We had a cab driver stop by to disagree with us, maybe 1 other person, but everyone else in this Democratic county was on our side! Weird (in a good way)…

3. Been having a lot of problems sleeping lately. I found out what was causing it – I had started playing some games on Yahoo, and you can be up all night with those. So I cut back wasting my time, and hopefully tonight will start sleeping right again.

4. Also started using BOINC again. Now the software not only lets me limit CPU use, but suspend when something else uses the CPU. Currently running Enigma@home and OGR. I will no longer use SETI as it strangely and quickly dismissed a potential alien communication.

Damn there are like 3 gnats that hang out right around my computer right now. They’re not going anywhere but flying in my eyes. Late at night, when the lights are off and I might log on to the computer, the three gnats fly right on the monitor

Believe it or not the phrase “X-Cop Fly” has a similar origin. When I was in 2nd grade, there would be these brown gnats (much more than 3) that would fly around the family computer. The name probably derives from “XCOPY”, as it was a 286 MS-DOS machine, or perhaps an incident in school regarding one of those “kids club” things 2nd graders do. In this case, my friend had a club called CPC (“Central Police Club” I think), and after loser kids like me weren’t invited, I started my own NPC (“New Personal Club”). Didn’t work of course, but it might have inspired the name of the gnats, and almost 20 years later, a booming dot com

(via Catholic & Enjoying It)

My vacation ended the 10th. It was OK, will probably enjoy it more next year.

You Are Tomatoes

You are kind hearted and open minded. You’re always up for something new. You like to experiment. You are easy going, and you pride yourself on not being judgmental. You can see the good in almost every situation. You prefer to keep things light and fun. You don’t like heavy topics or pessimistic people. You believe that there’s so much to celebrate. You’re happy to just celebrate being alive!

What Pizza Topping Are You?

Mmmm, tasty…

I can’t believe one of the funniest shows in TV history is coming back!

You Are Cheerful

You are a friendly and welcoming person. You know how to make the best of a bad situation. You tend to think most about the world. You always see things on a global scale. You are smart and inquisitive. You often aren’t satisfied until you know the “why” behind something. You have the most fun when things are simple. You don’t like making a big fuss out of anything.

Blogthings: The Surreal Test

Mentioning or linking to Wikipedia (or Wikimedia Commons, or any of their leecher sites, WAPedia, Answers.com, etc) on a Google-indexed Web site results in a higher position in Google search results for Wikipedia articles.

This tutorial need not require a domain name – follow these tips on your Blogspot blog, Facebook entry, even the description field of the YouTube video you’ve just uploaded, to weaken the influence of this wannabe-Orwell bullied teenage reject narcissism fest on Google, Yahoo, and the minds of you and your children:

1. Avoid mentioning the word “Wikipedia” (or “Wiki pedia” or something similar) in your articles.
2. Avoid linking to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, WAPedia, Answers.com, etc. in your articles. For example, when linking the word Slackware Linux, link to slackware.com rather than the Wikipedia entry for Slackware Linux.
3. When I left Facebook, the “Likes” system was being centralized around Wikipedia articles. Use the unofficial Facebook “Like” pages instead of Facebook’s Wikipedia-based ones, or use Facebook “Groups” instead. (I don’t know if this is still possible.)
4. Link to entries on Wikipedia alternatives like Conservapedia, Anarchopedia, Infoanarchy, and Wikia-based wikis.
5. Word of mouth
6. Create your own (intelligent) pages on the same subjects. Do not use Wikipedia’s content. Be sure to make it as visible as possible (do not use noarchive, nocache, block via robots.txt, etc.)
7. Don’t visit Wikimedia Commons sites or Wikipedia leecher sites for any reason. Block them out in a filter if you have to.

Even though you can’t see the effects of your boycott, you individually are still making a very small effort, and you’ll feel proud that you’ve done your part in protecting the minds of children and adults from this behemoth of junk. It’s easy – there is nothing to lose, just follow the tips above (and invent your own) and keep your effort going!

Your Money Personality is Reasonable

You are likely very financially savvy. You probably track your purchases down to the penny. Even if you have money problems, you try to avoid letting them stress you out. You try to stay on top of your finances. You are a careful and reasonable person. You think clearly before you make a decision. You are the type of person who likes to clean up often and get rid of dead weight. You live a streamlined life.

Blogthings: What Does Your Wallet Say About You?

Your Style is Traditional

You have a strong preference for classic things. You want items that will look good forever. You don’t fall for trends. You know what you like, and little is going to change that. You have an eye for quality. You’d like to hold on to your things for a long time. You pick out each item you own carefully and deliberately. You aren’t an impulse shopper.

Blogthings: What’s Your Personal Style?

You Were a Loner

You may have had a few friends on the playground, but you never felt like you really fit in. And while this was not the greatest when you were little, it’s served you well as an adult. You have learned to be independent – both in your thoughts and your actions. Not fitting in is now your strength. You defy labels, and you are completely original.

Blogthings: What’s Your Playground Personality?

Blogthings: What Color Would Help You Right Now?

I was really unhappy to see, this afternoon, that someone had linked to my previous blog entry and written a commentary themselves, which I could only read a half a paragraph, since the user shut their blog down on the same day. No Internet Archive either. I guess it’s forever lost in history…

You Are A Mild Insomniac

You aren’t like the walking dead during the day, but you could probably use a little more sleep. Even if you don’t have trouble falling asleep at night, you tend to drag a little during the day. Try to make sleeping soundly a priority. Cut back on caffeine. Make your bed and bedroom comfortable. Just getting an extra half hour of quality sleep could make a big difference for you.

Blogthings: Are You An Insomniac?

Rather than go on a standard political rant about this issue like any other blogger would, I thought I’d apply this to each amendment in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution.

(Note that the content in this article may not apply to blogs hosted on major “community” sites such as Google and Myspace. Since they are run by major corporations, with Myspace owned by the parent company of Fox News, they may be subject to the same/similar issues as Twitter and Facebook.)

1st Amendment: No Establishment of Religion (basis for “Separation of Church and State”), Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Peaceful Assembly, Right to Petition the Government:
Blogs have empowered the people more than ever, as they expose media bias and blackouts, political scandals, and more corruption you would never find out about on TV or radio. Information about diverse religions and philosophy available on the Internet is discouraging many parents from vaccinating their children by temporarily changing their religion or claiming an exemption. Some religious issues reported by Media 1.0, such as sexual abuse issues in the Catholic Church, have been subject to further debate on blogs – for example, the role of the vow of celibacy required by most priests. Material critical of Islam, such as the movie Fitna and depictions of Muhammad, freely spreads through blogs, causing Islamic theocracies to play whack-a-mole, banning entire Web sites and threaten to execute their owners. As a means of news, blogs containing audio and video, such as embedded material uploaded onto YouTube, have enabled individuals to “broadcast”, regardless of archaic laws. Broadcast licensing was originally designed to prevent interference according to issues not present in the age of GPS, satellites, digital transmissions, and “simulcasting” (the ability to put multiple channels in a single frequency, such as with Digital TV and HD Radio). However, they eventually became a means of media control. It took many media blackouts for obscure anti-establishment politician Ron Paul to gain media exposure in 2008, and in the 2004 Democratic primaries an antitrust-minded man named Howard Dean was mocked out of the race over a pep rally. Many grassroots campaigns, spread via blogs, have been highly successful. The Internet has made it easy to send e-mails and faxes to Congressmen and -women, as well as make laws and transcripts available for full viewing.
What gives blogs the advantage with all of this over Twitter or Facebook is the fact that if you own or lease the hardware running your site, you have much more freedom, since the less contracts there are, and the more privacy rights you have (Facebook is notorious for a mysterious “selling out” on the importance of privacy rights some time ago), the freer you are.

2nd Amendment: Right to Bear Arms:
In a world of liberal and neo”conservative” media, true conservatives and libertarians have grown due to blogs. Efforts such as the “Ron Paul Revolution” presidential campaign of 2008, the successor group Campaign for Liberty, and Tea Party protests owe the Internet their success. In opposition to these efforts, bog-standard left-wing charges of “violent racists” and “angry white men” fly at innocent Republicans who now have a new opportunity to speak their mind. And unlike Twitter and Facebook, which respond to any one complaint by banning the user or material immediately, so-called “hate speech” and “harassment” accusations by the left-wing establishment can be resolved more easily and fairly with a hosting provider, even if similar bans are in their contracts.

3rd Amendment: No Quartering of Soldiers:
Many blogs, such as the anarcho-capitalist LewRockwell.com and Justin Raimondo’s Antiwar.com, frequently criticize wars, foreign policy measures, anti-terrorism laws, and the actions of the US military (in fact, LRC is banned from offices of US intelligence agencies). No longer are complaints about the military or government limited to our minds or homes – while none of us, whether criminal or peaceful, are anonymous to authorities in any way, blog pseudonyms enable us to publish all kinds of crazy ideological arguments without our families and friends even knowing. Again, Facebook and Twitter will shut anything “hate speech” down immediately.

4th Amendment: Search & Seizure, Warrants, Right to Privacy:
The establishment has grown very successful in defeating the protections of this amendment. Laws such as the Patriot Act have eroded this right, and social networks and search engines have become goldmines for both private industry and government agencies. Facebook and Twitter are no exception – those sites store backups of your actions even if you delete your account. Web hosts have their own privacy policies and law enforcement measures which may be much less invasive. Other laws, such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, have granted these same broad powers to copyright holders, though in some cases they are used for purpose of censorship or forming trust-like “holding” organizations rather than copyright infringement.
And while Media 1.0 will censor or twist anything that reflects badly upon its own industry (or any other industry for that matter), and Facebook has “mysteriously” reversed its stance on privacy rights recently, blogs such as Slashdot have risen to fill in the blanks.

5th Amendment: No Double Jeopardy, No Self-Incrimination, Right to Life, Liberty, and Property, Eminent Domain:
6th Amendment: Right to a Speedy Trial, Nature of Trials:
7th Amendment: Right to Trial By Jury:
Acts which threaten the establishment have led to intelligence agencies and copyright holders to engage in dealmaking which is slowly trending towards entire leasing of your machine. Blogs have been reporting these efforts by Microsoft, Apple, the MAFIAA, and others, as well as reporting hacker attacks on remotely-stored personal data, which is sometimes marketed as “cloud computing”. After eminent domain laws were extremely loosened to allow seizure of property by Wal-Mart, bloggers not only reported the story, but debated the consequences. Trial by jury is being threatened through the expansion of forced arbitration, mandated by a federal law irreversible by states, including to Web sites about cartoon characters, rapists, neglectful murdering nursing homes, and consumer electronics purchases, but people are getting together and fighting the law, and some arbitration companies have left consumer dispute markets. The banking industry’s role in the current recession, reported by bloggers with an anti-establishment bias, has helped with this issue as well.

8th Amendment: No Cruel or Unusual Punishment:
Information regarding foreign wars have been reported by bloggers, with Media 1.0 dishonesty even being videotaped. Torture and other events at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo would be easy to hide if blogs didn’t exist, and there would be less questioning the claims made by the President about national security and foreign dictators. The use of pseudonyms have encouraged people to discuss and debate the Israeli lobby without fear of being publicly labeled an anti-Semite, even if they secretly are one.

9th Amendment: Rights Not Limited to Constitution:
As rights such as copyright protection have been broadly expanded in length and scope, bloggers have been making use of Creative Commons licenses to waive such rights for the benefit of themselves and others. This even includes musicians who rely on a cult following and touring, such as Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, who have left major labels and still kept their fans. Some have gone even further and released material entirely into the public domain, as controversial creationist figure Kent Hovind once did. I myself have released much of this blog’s content into the public domain.

10th Amendment: States’ Rights, Other Rights Belong to States & People:
Due to dissatisfaction with the establishment, fueled by blogs and the Tea Party movement, many libertarians have started a “Tenther” movement, proposing that the US become a confederacy where states have nullification rights over an ever-expanding federal government. Many want to repeal other Constitutional amendments associated with infringing on states’ rights, including parts of the 14th (birthright citizenship, bill of rights applies to states), the 16th (direct federal income tax), and the 17th (senate popularly elected like the house is, something I want to see repealed). Twitter and Facebook, once again, will shut down anything after somebody points the race card.

27th Amendment: Limiting Congressional Pay:
(part of original Bill of Rights, but not ratified until 1992)
Bloggers have been able to monitor Congress like never before, including not only laws and transcripts in their entirety, but also exposing financial and sexual scandals, ties to various lobbies, and other forms of corruption Media 1.0 would never report, and would be extremely difficult to spread via Twitter.