Flat Bock 2020 Is Here!

Ever since the Second Pride Festival 2015, Bock in SecondLife has offered its avid readers and loyal followers The Flat Bock cutout. This year is no different.

My loving art director and spouse, Tomais Ashdene, has excelled and created the raciest Flat Bock ever seen - yet...

The Flat Bock 2020 (censored version)by Tomais Ashdene

You can pick up your personal Flat Bock 2020 at my store at the Second Pride region.

Instructions for use: The Flat Bock is laminated with kevlar for your protection and to prevent staining. Rinse in lukewarm water and wipe clean after use/abuse. Not dishwasher safe. Do not place in microwave or dryer.

Much gratitude to Mr. Cayson Triellis for reminding me to post this on my blog.

Please note, the artifact has been censored here to comply with Bloggers and Facebooks bigoted rules. The complete product is NSFW and shows complete frontal and dorsal nudity.

"Miss You" - Friends of Linger

This music video is famous for having been allowed to be shown on Indian television by an appeals tribunal despite it's depiction of a gay love story. The video was first banned from television in India by the censors for the ten second scene in which the two men appear on a bed dressed only in shorts.

Music by Adhir Ghosh, Smiti Malik, Sharif Rangnekar
Lyrics and song by Sharif Rangnekar

Comment Moderation

Comments on this blog will - until further notice - be reviewed before they are published.

I fully recognize that this is censorship and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. I also appreciate your understanding.

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."

---

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."

---
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.