Gold Farming now illegal in China

[caption id="attachment_2173" align="alignright" width="200" caption="China's Government has deemed Gold Farming Illegal"][/caption]

The Chinese government has put out a ban on gold farming, now making it illegal to trade virtual currency for real money.

It's estimated that 80-85% of gold farmers are located within China, which would majorly impact the gold farming industry.  In 2008, the virtual currency in China exceeded several billion yuan last year, which grew at a rate of 20% annually.

The government claimed the ban was justified because it's there to stop gambling and other illegal online activities.  China's Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Commerce said "The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and service."

It's not like it's incredibly hard now to earn gold in World of Warcraft...

Sources:

• GamesIndustry.biz - Chinese government bans gold farming


• InformationWeek.com - China Limits User of Virtual Currency

The Pirate Bay ship sprung a leak, the hole cannot be patched, the ships going down...

[caption id="attachment_2156" align="alignright" width="250" caption="The Pirate Bay will be changing soon... And probably not for the good."][/caption]

I'm sad to say, that the Pirate Bay will be changing very soon.  And probably not for the good.

The Pirate Bay (TPB), launched on November 21, 2003, and has been the pinnacle website to go to for your needs.  Nearly everything you could ever want has always been available to download.  Music, Porn, TV Shows, Movies, cracked programs, console games, PC/Mac (lol Mac) games.

The Pirate Bay has had its fair share of legal threats, none of which they took seriously.  They've received threats from Microsoft, Apple, SEGA, EA, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, the MPAA, and the RIAA.  Their responses to these companies has always been something like this:

Actually, being in different countries (even on different continents) means that we don't have the same laws here.  You know, in Sweden, it's still legal to do a lot of things. Elks can have sex with each other without being prosecuted for instance. And people are allowed to copy.  It's quite natural, both of them, don't you think?

They announced in late November 2008 that they had reached over 25 million unique peers, and approximately 3.6 million registered users.

On April 17, 2009, the founders were sued by the MPAA and IFPI in the Swedish courts, and were forced to pay 3.6 million in damages.  They tried to appeal the case mainly due to the fact that the judge hearing the case, Tomas Norström had connections to national and international pro-copyright lobby groups but the courts deemed him unbiased and therefore there would be no retrial.

On June 30, 2009, they announced on their blog that there is a good chance they will be bought out for 7.8 million dollars by a Swedish advertising company called the "Global Gaming Factory X AB."  They also said:

If the new owners  screw around with the site, nobody will use it.  That's the biggest insurance one can have the site will be run in the way we all want to.

That comment doesn't bode well for their future.  I have seen this type of situation before, and frankly these buyouts never end up for the good of the users.  A company putting up that kind of cash will definitely be driven by pure profit, and will most definitely change the idea & concept of the Pirate Bay into something different then what it is now.  Remember Napster?  ...Yeeeaah.

Farewell The Pirate Bay, it was fun being on-board while the waters were calm, but it looks like I'll be jumping ship elsewhere.

Sources:

• TorrentFreak.com - Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde Discusses the Site's future


• The Pirate Bay Blog (while the site structure remains intact)


• Wikipedia - The Pirate Bay

Accuser of Michael Jackson molesting him admits he wasn't molested

[caption id="attachment_2145" align="alignright" width="171" caption="Evan Chandler, (a current picture) claimed Michael Jackson molested him."][/caption]

Seeing as nearly every news site, blog, MySpace, and Facebook page on the internet had the death of the Michael Jackson story plastered all over it I didn't feel like I needed to repeat the news here.

The story I feel that everybody should realize is the fact that Michael Jackson wasn't as crazy as some portrayed him to be...

We've all heard about the molestation charges against Jackson and how he liked little boys.  Well turns out, Jackson didn't like them that much... Well, in a sick type of way.

After Jackson's death, one particular kid whom testified against him for molestation finally comes out and tells the truth...

I don't want to put all the hate towards just Evan, his father also played a significant role in this molestation case.  In fact, this father is most likely the main culprit here.

His father Jordan Chandler, had Evan tell a psychiatrist and police that Jackson had engaged in numerous sexual acts, including oral.  In addition, he also gave a detailed description of what Jackson's genitals looked like.  Evan Chandler was 13 at the time when testifying  in 1993.

Eventually the case was settled.  Jackson paid $22 million leaving his reputation forever tarnished.

That accusation caused major strain for Jackson driving Jackson to taking painkillers which led to his addiction.

I never meant to lie and destroy Michael Jackson but my father made me to tell only lies.  Now I can't tell Michael how much I'm sorry and if he will for give me."

Well buddy if you had some fucking backbone to stand up against your dad, you could have just told the truth and avoided this whole fiasco from the start.  Instead you let greed take you over.

The least you could do now is donate the remainder of that settlement money (assuming you haven't spent it all) to his "Heal the World Foundation" charity.

Sources:

• I Read Buzz - Jordan Chandler Lied about Michael


• KingofPopMichael.info

Apparently PETA has a problem with Obama swapping flies

[caption id="attachment_2130" align="alignright" width="275" caption="A photoshopped picture I did of President Obama holding the 'Peta approved' Katcha Bug product."][/caption]

If you're one that spends like 80 hours a day (despite that not being physically possible) watching videos online, you might have seen the infamous Obama fly swat video.

Despite Obama having awesome ninja skills taking care of that fly, apparently now PETA has a problem with him swatting them.  Vice President of PETA, Bruce Friedrich said "We support giving insects the benefit of the doubt.  We'd prefer brushing flies away rather then killing them."

Yesterday afternoon (June 17th 2009) PETA sent Obama over a Katcha Bug, a device that traps insects and allows your free them.  They hope that Obama will use this catcher should the occasion arise again.

All I can say is that this organization is fucking INSANE to ask for such oddball requests.  These guys must literally sit on their asses all day and think (to a point beyond rationality) about what can we do to infuriate people.  I mean seriously... They're fucking FLIES... They spread around bacteria and disease.  Who the fuck cares the flies well-being?  What stupid shit.  I think somebody ought to release a swarm of flies inside the PETA offices and see what their true reaction would be.

What dumb fucks...

If you haven't you didn't see the video it's here you go:

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sV3_LUBGTU /]

Source:

• ABC News Blog: PETA Says No More Fly-Killing, Sends Obama a Humane Fly Catcher

Palm Pre Video review coming soon!

[caption id="attachment_2118" align="aligncenter" width="428" caption="A happy Palm Pre user"][/caption]

Yes indeed I bought the Palm Pre phone... And I must say it's exactly as I expected it to be... For me it's a significant upgrade from my Blackberry Curve 8330.  The main reason for the switch was that I wanted something I can keep with me at all times, and be able to view websites as they should be viewed, and not some "mobile version" of the website.  I'll have a video review of the phone up with the specifics on the site hopefully within the week.

Stay tuned...