Chicken Porn

My friends Kip Ashbourne and Bee Glasswing, who apparently don't read my blog, suggested I spice it up with some "naked chickens" (which they seem to have a special fascination with, don't ask me about it...).

Marlon even especially asked for a naked chicken on a chair, but I couldn't find one. However, I am hoping these pictures will entice them to come for the images and come back - or even stay - for the literary value. As both the guys are gay men I assumed they would prefer roosters to hens.

I Google-searched for these pictures with half-open eyes! Enjoy guys!

Oh my, the things I do for my readers...

Google Celebrates Lairds First Life Birthday

My dear friends over at Google surprised me with a cute doodle today on my first life birthday. When I scroll over it it says "Happy Birthday, Bock!"

Thank you Google, that was very sweet of you!

Actual Reality by Google

"What realer than real?", Google asked on April Fools Day as they presented their Google Cardboard Plastic, the first headset to experience actual reality with.

My Upgrade to Windows 10 (Updated)

Yesterday I upgraded to Windows 10. The upgrade itself was rather easy and took little over an hour.

All my personal files (pictures and documents) were left undisturbed, but most of my additional tools like Adobe Reader, AVG TuneUp, Chrome, Firestorm, GeForce Experience, Kaspersky Total Security, iTunes, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Skype and Quicktime were lost. This was possibly due to those apps being set to a different language (American English) than my computer is (Swedish), it could also be because they weren't - and still aren't (as I found out when I tried to reinstall some of them again (Kaspersky and GeForce Experience) - compatible with Windows 10.

My biggest concern initially was the loss of all my browser bookmarks, however they all miraculously returned to me today, once I had logged into my Google account. With the returning bookmarks I also got all my saved passwords in Chrome back.

I have reinstalled AVG TuneUp, Firestorm, iTunes and Skype, but - as I said above - Kaspersky (solved) and GeForce Experience (solved) don't seem to be compatible with the platform yet.

The only problem I have right now, is that my SLT time app on the blog isn't working in Chrome but is OK in Microsoft Edge... (solved)

Glory hallelujah!

NSFW Month on Ello

The social network Ello responds to Google.

"Following Google’s decision to ban NSFW content from Blogger (followed by an awkward reversal), we decided to celebrate freedom of speech on Ello by naming March NSWF Month.

You can’t ban some content without seriously impacting freedom of speech for everyone.

The last people we want to dictate what we can't say on the Internet are the advertisers that control big ad-based social networks. Ello doesn’t believe in censorship, and because Ello is ad-free, we will always be a dependable haven for free speech.

Help us celebrate NSFW Month on Ello by posting and discussing ideas about free speech, censorship, and why it's important that Internet remain open and free.

Much Love,
Ello

PS. Some people love adult content. Other's don't. Ello is all about respecting each others' point of view. You can always turn NSFW content on or off on your Ello settings page."

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Chew on that Google & Blogger!

Google Backtracks

theguardian.com today reports: Google has backtracked on plans to ban sexually explicit images from its blogging platform Blogger, in the face of widespread opposition from users.

The company had initially announced a ban on “sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video”, with just a few exceptions for content which offered “a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts”.

It planned to enforce the ban from 23 March, when any user with offending material still on their blog would be forced to turn it into a private site.

Now, the company has backed down. Jessica Pelegio, a social product support manager at Google, wrote: “We’ve had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities.

“So rather than implement this change, we’ve decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn.”

You can read the whole article here: theguardian.com: Google backtracks on porn ban in Blogger

(Tipped by J.M.G.)

Really Google, Really...?

"In an announcement that was sent out to bloggers who use the company's blogging website, Google said people will no longer be able to "publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity" on Blogger as of March 23. Google said those Blogger sites that continue to host pornography after March 23 will be made "private." That means the content will be allowed to remain up, but it will only be accessible to the site's owner and the people who the user directly shared the blog with. 

Google noted that it isn't completely banning nudity from being shown publicly on Blogger. The site will allow nudity "if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts." But it also puts Google in the position of deciding what is art and what is pornography -- a decision that Instagram and other sites have struggled with. Blogger previously allowed adult content on its sites, but it required users to mark their blogs as "adult." Those Blogger sites came with an "adult content" warning that would appear before a visitor could enter the site."

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Read more about this wide-reaching censorship by Google here: ZDNet: Google bans 'explicit' adult content from Blogger blogs (Link tipped by Tomais Ashdene)

In the last months we have also seen how Blogger/Google in a very disturbing way has forced an adult rating on some of the blogs that do not carry adult rated material or nudity, for example my dear friend Eddi Haskell's blog "Eddi & Ryce's Second Life".

I am starting to think it is best to move the blog to another blog provider and to stop using my Google Crome browser, my Gmail and my Google+ accounts altogether. I  should have seen this coming earlier...

Tomorrow I am going to start checking on my alternatives concerning blog, browser and web-mail.

Gay Porn Outlawed In Turkey

The High Supreme Court of the Republic of Turkey (Yargitay) has decided to assess oral and anal sex as "unnatural sexual acts". Through this decision the list of "unnatural content" in videos which are now forbidden in Turkey consist of  the following activities:

• oral sex
• anal sex
• group sex
• SM
• rape
• bestiality
• necrophilia

Possession, distribution and publication of videos with "unnatural content", as well as possession of downloaded material from the Internet, is punishable with four years imprisonment in Turkey.

Earlier the word "gay" (including its Turkish pronunciation "gey") and "anal" have been banned from Turkish Internet domain names. Any sites containing such words faces immediate closure. The Turkish Telecommunications Directorate in 2011 sent a list of 138 words to Turkish web-hosting firms, ruling the words are not allowed to feature in domain names and websites that do use them will be shut down.

This is a very devious way for the bigots and homophobes in Turkey to legislate, "Let´s forbid gay pornography by not actually forbidding it - which may effect our application for membership in The European Union adversely - instead we forbid the sexual acts that have to be an integral part of ever gay sex film if there is to be any sexual activity at all, except for kissing, caressing and masturbation.

Anatole France (1844–1924) French poet, novelist and journalist once said something like "La loi, dans un grand souci d'égalité, interdit aux riches comme aux pauvres de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain." (The law, in a large concern for equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread.)
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Somehow all this reminds me of the homophobic Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, formerly a United States Senator for Pennsylvania and previously a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination. Santorum equated homosexuality with pedophilia, incest, adultery, bigamy, and bestiality. 

This lead to a sublime revenge by gay activist Dan Savage, who is also an American humorist and sex advice columnist, who with the help of his readers redefined the word "santorum" to mean "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex".

I encourage you all to visit Google and search for the word "santorum", in the results please check out the site "Spreading santorum"

Joe.My.God. Eighth Blogoversary

Congratulations are due today to the Joe.My.God Blog and it´s writer Mr. Joe Jervis of New York, N.Y.

This is actually one of the best blogs I have ever had the pleasure to read. The blog has a personal mix of political news, music, science frivolities, well you name it and I am sure Joe has a post or two about it. And please always make sure to read the comments, J.M.G. has a following of brilliant, dedicated, funny and knowledgeable readers who have a great sense of humor and vast experiences which they willingly share.

To be able to read the comments, and perhaps comment yourself, you - if you live outside the United States - need to change the blogs web-address to http://joemygod.blogspot.com/ncr.(Unfortunately you have to do this every day or so, but the rewards are great.)

This hassle is due to Google´s shitty new policy of nationalizing the web-address for those of us not in the U.S.

Damn You, Google!

This weekend Google has decided to screw with bloggers outside the United States again it seems. They have now decided to chang the addresses to all the Blogger (a part of Google) blogs in your blogrolls.

I didn't understand that something was wrong or what was going on until I read this post on J.M.G. Joe Jervis´s readers are usually an extremely chatty crowd and the fact that I couldn't see a single comment in his last ten posts made me suspicious.

What you have to do to get your browser directing to
http://[blogname].blogspot.com/ instead of the http://[blogname].blogspot.[your country code].is to change to the correct address in your browser by changing the address to http://[blogname].blogspot.com/ncr. Then click enter and the ncr will disappear while the .com will remain.

Once you have done this the original versions of the blog will remain in your browser. You do not need to change your blogroll (my wrong sorry). The change survives a restart, but I guess you have to do this every time you visit a new Blogger blog or change browsers or computers or anything else...

Please note:
1. Thankfully Google is only messing with its own Blogger blogs, the other blogging services remain unchanged.
2. Bloggers in the United States are not effected.

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This is plain stupid, whatever lofty and high sounding reasons they may give for the change!

UPDATE Sunday March 18: If my own personal experience is true for everyone it seems we must perform the change to .com/ncr everyday.

Hostile Takeover Bid for Apple Inc?

The financial markets all over the world today went rampant with rumors that the SecondLife-based BMcM Corporation may be launching a hostile takeover bid for Apple Inc. This news followed the recent news that Apple Inc is now worth more than Microsoft and Google combined or the GDP of the Kingdom of Sweden for one year.

The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and filthy rich owner of BMcM, smiled enigmatically and declined to comment on this rumor when he was confronted in the company of a stunningly beautiful man in a sordid backstreet bar in the ill-reputed  Zindra Region.

Prince Wild Zepp, the official spokesman for the McMillan household, only snorted "Ridiculous!" and then turned his back to this reporter and refused to comment further.

This "tactic of silence" from the McMillan household is well known from similar business deals in the past. We will of course keep you updated as this story as it evolves.

(...and if you did not guess it already, it´s a joke...)

Bock Quoted in First Life Media

I happened to Google my name today and to my amazement I found this article on CTV News.ca from August 30, 2011 where they actually quote a comment I made on copyranter´s blog.

Link to the article http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110830/salon-black-eye-ad-campaign-110830/

As I am an International first life celebrity now the price of my autograph just went up to 5 L$.

My Own Private Drama

For security reasons I chose to get 2-step verification to my Google Account, which I use for my gmail, my Google+ and my blog. It adds an extra layer of security by requiring that I have access to my iPhone – as well as my username and password – when I sign in. In addition to my username and password, I should enter a code that Google should supply to an app on my phone when I sign in.

"2-step verification drastically reduces the chances of having the personal information in your Google account stolen by someone else. Why? Because hackers would have to not only get your password and your username, they'd have to get a hold of your phone." 

Well that's how it is supposed to work according to Google. Sounds awesome huh? If it worked as intended I am sure it would be, but it doesn't!

You have an option when using it to let you stay logged in for 30-days. That first 30-day period expired for me yesterday, Friday. No problems I thought and brought up the Google Authenticator app to get the code for accessing my accounts again. I must have tried about 50 of those six digit codes generated by the app, but was told every time that the codes were not valid.

As I had to go on a Christmas dinner with my workmates yesterday I gave up for the evening and thought I would deal with it again today, after I had sobered up.

Well I tried 25 times today also, then I removed the app and reinstalled it and set it up again according to instructions and tried another 25 times. Still I got the message that the codes generated by the app were not valid. Totally frustrated I shut down the computer and gave up on ever accessing my blog ever again.

After a few hours trying not to think about the damned thing, I suddenly remembered I had actually gotten a set of ten written backup-codes when first setting up the thing. So I thought I might try them before giving up completely. Lo and behold, the backup code actually did work.

So in the future I am not even going to use the app generated codes but going for the backup codes straightaway, you can easily get ten new ones when you have used the first ten.

Bock in SecondLife is back in the air again. The world is safe as this blog continues it´s fight for truth. justice and the SecondLife way of life.

Time to Sign Up

If you aren't an organ donor already you should sign up for it now.

Always make sure that you let the people close to you know where you stand in this matter, so you do not dump the decision in their lap at a time when they are preoccupied with other things!

Organ Donor Foundation TV commercial - 'Leila' from kirk gainsford on Vimeo
(via copyranter)

This is by far the best public service announcement for organ donation I have ever seen, it´s strong and hits home hard. The best part is of course that it is completely true. If you aren't an organ donor you do take 5-7 others with you who could have been saved!

Swedes can sign up here Donationsrådet.
Americans can sign up here organdonor.gov
Canadians can find out how and where to sign up here Canadian Living
Australians can sign up here Australia MediCare
Danes can sign up here sundhed.dk
Britons can sign up here Organ Donation
New Zealanders can sign up here Organ Donors Foundation
Belgians can find consent forms in French and Dutch here
The Dutch can sign up here - with DigID Donorregister or with a form Donorregister

In Finland it is automatically assumed that you consent to organ donation unless you have previously expressed opposition. (Way to go, Finland!)

Lazy buggers of any other nationality, just do a Google search for organ donation and your country.

Google Chrome Saves My Weekend

 

As some of you may remember I started having problems with my Mozilla Firefox browser after trying to download version 6.

I tried uninstalling, cleaning up and re-installing Firefox about a hundred and umpteen times. The problems kept recurring sooner or later.

Following my mate Eddi Haskell´s advice I have know migrated to Google Chrome, and let me tell you it is really fast and bloody
E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!

Somehow it even miraculously recovered all the bookmarks I thought had been lost, which saves me a lot of time and troubles.

Worlds Largest Graffiti

Do you want to check out the worlds largest graffiti? Then go for a look at the island of Al Futaisi in the United Arab Emirates using Google Maps or Google Earth.  

The incredibly wealthy sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, who is member of the country´s royal family, has had his first name shoveled out in the desert sands by laborers from Pakistan and Bangladesh. The inscription is three kilometer long. 

Isn't that a terribly creative way to spend your money and wealth in a world where disease and famine kills people by the millions? I feel like slapping someone.

Egyptian Invasion

Lately I have had a lot of traffic to this blog from Egypt.

 

I couldn't understand why and perhaps still don´t, but this post Nakna Avatarer i SL 102 is what they come here for. They find it when they do a search for "ناكني في كسي", which according to my Google Translator means "Nakny in Wuxi" in English and "Nakny i Wuxi" in Swedish. The problem is that both of the translations are totally meaningless to me.

The post shows my friend Kicki Springflower posing for my art and peace project last year called "Naked avatars in SL" (Well as I was still writing in Swedish then so it was "Nakna avatarer i SL".)

Kicki was pregnant with her first avtatar child at the time but still graciously agreed to participate in my project.

Secret Message To Taco

To Mr. Taco Rubio, Esquire

Dear Sir,

I have received your latest message in our most recent discussion in IM. It was forwarded to my e-mail.

My response is, that whatever number or amount you say I am now asking for the +1-rule to be applied. According to the Kindergarten rules I cannot be beaten now, because I was the first to call for the +1 rule.

Hugs you lovingly +1

Bock

(P.S. Don´t even think you can confuse me with a godawful  Google translation, I may laugh but I will not budge an inch.)

Googling Images of "Magic" and Magician"

So here first is the official SL8B logo that is at the root of the controversy.

And here are some other images I found during a 10 minute search on Google Images for the words "magic" and "magician".  

"Creative originality"?