Pirates of the Internet Valley: 8/1/10

Thursday, August 5, 2010

15 minutes of Porn telecast in Indonesian parliament

Hackers have managed to infiltrate an internal TV broadcast at Indonesia’s parliament. Rather than seeing the expected political programming, staff there were subjected to 15 minutes of pornographic imagery.

The reason for the hack is unclear, but suspicion rests with plans to start blocking pornography on the Internet from August 11 causing a retaliation. ISPs have been told to implement the block, and this has no doubt spread anger amongst some citizens.

An apology has been issued by the deputy speaker of the House. But surely this shows that a block probably isn’t going to stop pornography being downloaded in the country, and that such a block isn’t wanted anyway.

Helicopter static electricity stunts. Amazing.

In the middle of a desert, a military helicopter creates a stunning show while initiating an impossible static electrical discharge, spectacular phenomenon for all the lucky viewers on site. Luckily someone had a camera, and probably, a permission to take photos of this amazing light show, so that we may enjoy this as well. It would be great if I had one of those and a desert with lots of sand in the air. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Student loan consolidation center documentary

The above Documentary is a feature-length documentary chronicling the stories of borrowers from different backgrounds affected by the private student lending industry and their struggles to change the system.

In 2005 private student loan consolidation programs were exempted of ALL consumer protections. No matter when their loans were taken, many borrowers now find themselves in a paralyzing predicament of repaying two, three or multiple times the original amount borrowed, with no bankruptcy protection, no cap on fees and penalties and no recourse to the law. The consequences are dire, with stories of borrowers in financial and emotional ruin.