The Pirate Bay will be Blocked in the UK

The directory of BitTorrent download links will be blocked by major Internet Service Providers (ISP) of the United Kingdom , Monday, April 30 ordered the High Court in London. Sky, Everything Everywhere , TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media should proceed immediately to blocking; British Telecom has requested additional time.

At the end of 2011, the British Phonographic Industry, the British equivalent of the SACEM, had asked the ISP to conduct a voluntary blocking the site, the most emblematic BitTorrent links directory. The ISP refused, explaining that only a decision of justice could the force to block access to a site - which is now done.

The BPI welcomed the closure, arguing that if this can be overridden, it still remains a necessity. For its part, the Pirate Party UK denounced the entrance of the United Kingdom "on the slippery slope that leads to censorship."

For several months, The Pirate Bay sees the difficulties, accumulating . Its founders, sentenced in 2009 and 2010 in Sweden, saw their last chance to appeal dismissed. Threatened to lock in other countries, notably the Netherlands, The Pirate Bay has also taken several steps to try to defend themselves. He has abandoned the file hosting. "Torrent" in favor of another technology that allows it not to directly host files, which in theory gives additional legal protection. Finally, the site has abandoned its domain name from ".ORG" to the Swedish-based ".SE", to avoid an outright seizure by the United States , as had been the case for MegaUpload, in January 2012.

Read More

Mobile Broadband : Could it make cabled broadband redundant ?

If you use a laptop, you may already have experienced mobile broadband. This uses a USB dongle to connect to the internet over the 3G network using a system known as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). This system has a theoretical connection speed of 7.2Mb, but unless you are extremely close to a mobile phone mast, you are more likely to see 1.5-2Mb. Mobile phone company 3 has been quietly upgrading its network to the super-charged HSPA+ system, increasing the top speed to 21 Mb, and this should be complete across the country by the end of 2011. 02 is following suit. They will offer speeds better than most existing broadband connections, without the need for a landline, or a separate router.

Orange, Docomo, 02, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and 3 all have contract and pay-as-you go plans with USB dongles. Because the connection is tied to the dongle, it's harder to share between several computers but there's nothing to stop you unplugging the dongle from your desktop computer and taking it with you to use on your laptop when you leave the house. Mobile broadband monthly plans start at around 10$ but with that, the download limit is typically quite low. Most include just 3 gigabytes per month and costs rise steeply once you exceed this limit. If you opt for a pay-as-you-go plan, you can't exceed your budget and your connection will simply stop when your credit runs out.

A physical fiber-optic network will always offer higher theoretical speeds but it is much more expensive to roll out to remote locations. A combination of mobile broadband in rural areas and public Wi-Fi in towns could break our reliance on wired connections altogether, in the same way that the mobile phone is increasingly replacing the fixed landline. 

4G : The next step for mobile communications

As fast as HSPA+ is, it's simply a stop-gap technology until the next generation of ultra-fast mobile networks, known as 4G, is implemented. These will offer speeds of up to 10OMb on a laptop dongle. That's amazing, but the 4G standard also specifies an even faster mode that will give ten times that speed to computers that don't need to be mobile. In a few years, your desktop PC could be using a mobile broadband connection at speeds of 1000Mb. 4G communications could also replace existing Wi-Fi networks by turning each house into its own private mobile phone base station.

South Newquay in Cornwall is piloting a 4G network from September to December this year and the mobile phone companies will bid for rights to the radio spectrum early next year. 4G should roll out across the whole country during 2014.

Read More

10 Ways to Get More From Your Webcam

Most people have one, but few know how useful it can be. We show you how to get more from your PC'

s webcam

1. High-Def Glory
High-definition cameras have been around for a while, but until now there was very little point in having one. With the rise of HD video chat services such as Skype HD, though, and processors that are fast enough now to handle high quality footage, you can start to reap the benefits, such as clear life-like chats with friends on the other side of the world or even posting your high-def videos online. Look for a webcam capable of recording in 720p high definition, such as the Microsoft HD-5000.

Top Quality : An HD webcam adds depth to video chat

2. Chat Like Never Before

Skype (which is free to download from www.skype.com) has now upgraded its service, so you can chat with friends and family across the world in glorious high-definition. To do this you need a broadband connection, and an HD capable webcam - there's a superb selection sold through the Skype website.
 

Super Skype : You can talk face-to-face with friends and family for free with the Skype service

3. Connect with Friends or Family

If you're a Windows Live user, you don't have to switch to Skype to enjoy chatting via webcam. Windows Live Messenger has a fantastic video chat feature, which enables you to catch up in the familiar surroundings of the most popular instant messenger in the world. If that wasn't enough, you can play games while you chat, making for a much richer experience. You can sign up to Windows Live by visiting https://signup.live.com.

Live Chat : Windows Live Messenger offers another superb way to keep in touch with your webcam

4. Power Up Facebook

Unlike Windows Live Messenger and Skype, you won't need to use a third-party app, which means you can use it to stay in touch when using internet cafes abroad, and even on tablets. With Facebook verging on ubiquity, video chat is an essential addition and a great upgrade. See www.facebook.com/videocalling for more details.

5. Hangout on Google+

One of the new features of Google+ (https://plus.google.com) is the ability to web chat as a group, which is a great way to stay in touch. Unlike Facebook, Google+ tends to be used in a more professional capacity, and this feature, dubbed Hangout, is good for discussing ideas. Google+ is similar to Facebook, but works around the idea of circles, which means you don't have to mix family, friends and colleagues. You can start a Hangout with any of your circles, and see everyone at once.

6. Show your Best SideTaking a few simple steps can improve webcam video no end. Firstly, make sure you have the right lighting. Many people don't light the room adequately, so use a soft light from above, and have a light shining on your face, out of sight of the camera. It can just be a desk lamp, but it will eliminate shadows and help keep you clear and bright on screen. While video quality of webcams has improved, movement is shoddy, so try not to move about much. Finally, turn off other bandwidth sapping programs, to make sure the stream is smooth.

Bad Show : Poor quality can make webcam chat painful

7. Be a TV Presenter
You don't just have to use your webcam to stay in touch with friends - you can broadcast to the entire world! Sign up to Justin.tv (www.justin.tv) and start your own broadcast, all from your PC. You can do anything from boring the world with your thoughts on the shortcomings of the justice system to presenting your own mini TV show. There's also a smartphone app, which means you can take your show anywhere with a 3G connection. Use Twitter and Facebook to promote it, and you might be a hit

Video Stars : Create your own TV show with your webcam

8. Become a YouTube Superstar
If you get bored fooling around on Justin.tv, why not start a show on YouTube? Loads of people have made it big on the site by showcasing their talents. One great example is Charlie McDonnell, whose video blog has over one million subscribers. Recent figures showed his YouTube channel gaining over 4,000 new subscribers daily. YouTube also offers a revenue share for content creators, which can rack up to a healthy amount if your videos are popular.

9. Turn Your Webcam into a CCTV SystemIf internet fame isn't your cup of tea, put your webcam to use as a security camera. There's been a host of cases where home-made security systems have caught burglars in the act, and it's free to set up. Get GotoCamera from www.gotocamera.com and hook up your webcam to your PC. Prime the software and it uses a built-in motion sensor to capture movement in your home. If you're not worried about crime, use it to keep an eye on your pets, and check they don't get up to mischief while you're out.

10. Add Fun to your Chats
Web chatting is a great way to stay in contact, but it can also be a fun way to keep kids entertained. Small children love playing with special effects, so giving them your webcam to play with will keep them quiet for a while. There's a free special effects toy at http://neave.com/webcam that uses your PC's webcam, and enables you to cycle though silly effects, and even take stills. If you have a Logitech QuickCam, you can use the built-in special effects while chatting with friends.


Skype (which is free to download from www.skype.com) has now upgraded its service, so you can chat with friends and family across the world in glorious high-definition. To do this you need a cheap broadband connection, and an HD capable webcam - there's a superb selection sold through the Skype website.

Read More

Watch IPL T20 Live on Your Desktop

I stay in a hostel where there is only one common TV room and during the Cricket Matches, it is too difficult to watch the match clearly with all the hostelites at one place. So, this time I decided to watch all the IPL matches on my laptop :)

The Times has developed a micro-site at ipl.indiatimes.com where all the IPL cricket matches will be streamed live and you can also watch Past Matches again. Indiatimes with partnership with Google will broadcast all matches live streamed at YouTube also at youtube.com/indiatimes. This is just a wrapper site and the live video source is the same as indiatimes.com which is using Akamai CDN for live streaming.

 ( Screenshot from youtube.com/indiatimes )

If you are not in India, you can still watch every Indian Premier League match with different broadcaster. Like, Ten Network will give live coverage for IPL in Australia, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, ITV4 in the UK, ADD if you are in the Middle East, Geo Super in Pakistan and so on.

For a complete list of TV channels that have the broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League 2011 in your country visit Wikipedia.

Read More

How To : Make Reddit More Productive

Previously i was using Digg, but now i am no more a regular user of Digg as it turned from a powerful news source into a site ruled by power users, news by top sites and bad management. I used to find Digg valuable then to discover new websites that I did not know about before. Now, it is just the same day in day out.

Reddit on the other hand managed to keep much of its identity and contents, making it my number one new site discovery service. If there is one thing that could use some improvement, then it’s the layout and look of the site. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who thinks that it looks a bit messy, and could use some polishing because of this.

The following is a list of userscripts and styles to give Reddit the makeover and make it more productive that it deserves. Before we start: Firefox users need the Greasemonkey add-on installed before they can make use of userscripts, and Stylish for styles.

Reddit web 2.0 but even more pretty

This userstyle is compatible with all modern web browsers. It modifies the Reddit layout giving it a polished and stylish web 2.0 look and feel.

Embedifier – Images and videos are posted often on Reddit. They are usually linked to the source website, which means they need to be opened in a new tab, window or on the same page. This userscript adds arrow icons in front of embeddable media, which will expand the media on the Reddit page on click. No more leaving the page to view an image or video.

Reddit Uppers and Downers Enhanced – ever asked yourself what the ratio of up votes to down votes was? Wonder no more. This userscript displays the total amount of up and down votes on Reddit comment pages to give interested parties an idea on a submission’s popularity.

Reddit Enhancement Suite – one of the most sophisticated makeovers for Reddit. This userscript adds dozens of features, from loading and displaying all images on the page to keyboard navigation, account switching, auto loading of next pages to saving comments. It is all there and more.

• Configuration Console
• Inline Image Viewer
• Keyboard Navigation
• Show New Comments
• filteReddit
• Account Switcher
• Never Ending Reddit
• Never Ending Reddit
• Uppers and Downers Enhanced
• Subreddit Tagger
• User Tagger – now with ignore!
• Show parent on hover
• Full Comments Linker
• Single Click Opener
• Live Comment Preview
• User Highlighter
• Style Tweaks
• Username Hider
• Show Comment Karma
• Hide All Child Comments

Reddit Comment Boxes – draws boxes around comments which makes identification a lot easier.

Top Reddit Comments Preview – Firefox only. Displays a top link next to each submission. Clicking the link displays the two top comments on the same page.

Reddit SFW Check – If you need your Reddit fix at work or a public computer you may find this userscript helpful. It adds a link next to each article listing. Clicking this link will scan all article comments for the words nsfw and not safe for work. It then displays the number of occurrences and the total number of comments, so that the user can decide to view or avoid the linked website.

Reddit Secure Pro – Force https connection when visiting Reddit.

Digg2Reddit – Redirects you to Reddit whenever you load the Digg website (accidentally I presume).

Reddit Top Comments Sidebar – Displays top comments of a submission in the left sidebar. Great for a quick overview of the most popular comments.

Reddit Spam Button – With popularity comes spam. This userscript can be used to submit a spammer’s profile to /r/repotthespammers .

Reddit Comment Highlighter – highlights reddit comments at the 75%, 90%, 95% and 98% levels (you can adjust these in the code) based on the comment points. Also, increases the font size of higher rated comments.

Reddit Username Colorizer – Automatically calculates the character sum of all usernames on a reddit page and colorizes them with it. Usernames will always have the same color no matter what page they are on.

Reddit Jerks – Remembers jerks you come across on Reddit and highlights their comments in the future with a JERK! sign so you can down-vote them again!

You have something more to add? Let me know in the comments.

Read More