Climate does its thing

Climate is strange today. Normally, these would be the days for serious indoor activities, the three-day Feast of the Shut-In: I got some modular stuff from eBay just for the occasion, it's time to construct a high-ranking member of the Adeptus Mechanicus. But now climate sits on the couch, it has a strangely sunny disposition and the mood just is not right. "Everything ok?" I ask climate. Climate fidgets and beams at me. Its eyes are all over the place. I want to say something, but I keep my mouth shut. We all have heard the stories: Climate has turned volatile. It misses whole days on the job, and when it finally turns up, its frantic over-zeal does more harm than good. Climate is no longer dependable. Climate is having a difficult time right now, it is turning or turned manic-depressive, that's what people say who know it really well. There are other stories, darker ones. Climate was involved in a home invasion. Climate has had so many "unfortunate accidents" recently its insurance premium went up, up, up. Some say that, one of these days, climate is going to kill somebody.

Climate gives me a warm smile. "Not to your liking?" "Nah, it's cool." I say. Climate's face turns clouded at once. I really hope I didn't say something wrong.

Please use the web for this, but not for that

So what is this ACTA business? It is said to be worse than SOPA, and proffering that legislation led to (maybe) the first visible strike on the internet. Now there seems to be an European version on the way, and it seems like it has proceeded quite far, in a rather sneaky way, like one of those halfling fucks lurking on the slope of your house volcano. I think we need another strike, and lots of phone calls to our representatives' offices. And letters. And creepy signboard vigils with vaguely related but really scary bible verses. Like the one about the two hundred foreskins. Other scary religions are, of course, welcome to join the fray.

Anyway: I think we are raging against the dying of the light. One day, a similar or worse legislation will be rammed through the relevant law-giving body, something like "all behavior on the net is illegal, prepare to be sued to oblivion and gitmotized if you do anything that displeases or hurts the feelings someone with more litigious oomph, or if we feel that our ROI isn't high enough. We will fuck you up. Yes, you could be face a lawsuit for posting a photo that looks like a photo that some has taken before, but from a different angle. Shut your mouth and pay up." But fret not. While articles like that cracked oldie above might no longer be possible, the net will still be there: It is useful after all, and you should use it for this, but not for that.