Fangirlin' It

We defeated this internet spying crap in the US Congress, but if you're in Europe, you need to fight something even worse. Use this to tell your MP or whoever represents you that this sort of thing is not okay and you oppose it. Also consider the protests planned for this Saturday!

Stop ACTA & TPP: Tell your country's officials: NEVER use secretive trade agreements to meddle with the Internet. Our freedoms depend on it!

AfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBritish Virgin IslandsBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandColombiaComoros IslandsCongo, Democratic Republic of theCongo, Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'ivoireCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEast TimorEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiSouth KoreaKosovoKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairn IslandPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSt. HelenaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSudanSurinameSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaViet NamVirgin Islands (U.S.)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe Write Them Now! I urge you to vote no on ACTA and to communicate its severe problems to your colleagues. ACTA's vague language locks us into obsolete copyright and patent laws, preventing democracies from updating their laws to unlock new economic and social opportunities.It criminalizes harmless remixes by ordinary users if they achieve 'a commercial scale' (art 2.14.1) which many amateur videos do on sites like Youtube. And it criminalizes legitimate websites by making them responsible for user behavior ('aiding and abetting' art 2.14.4).Worse, it permanently bypasses the democratic process by empowering the 'ACTA Committee' to 'propose amendments to [ACTA]' without your approval. (art 6.4) In other words, it's impossible to know what you're voting for.The global movement against the US law SOPA showed that internet freedom is a crucial issue which belongs in the legislative process of each country. You should view ACTA as an attempt by a handful of companies to circumvent the democratic process, and you should vote against it.Thank you. Please reply if you have any questions.

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I know, I know, the last thing any of us needs is yet another way to waste time on the internet.

Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you want to waste more time on the internet! You're on LJ, after all. You use Google, check Wiki, faff around with flash games--why not get credit for it in a cool MMOG? Best of all, it works on just about any platform--Windows, Linux, Mac. You go about your normal browsing and play at the same time!


Plus, if you click this link to sign up, I get points too. And then I can come reward you with points. I get to be an online philanthropist, since this economy practically guarantees I'll never be able to afford to be one IRL.

So, join me on the Nethernet!

Okay.  I have to say this, really I do.  I love the fact that people write fiction and post it on the internet; it's amazing that our society has developed this thing that lets me read so much for free.  And so I realise I probably shouldn't then complain about people's spelling and grammar, but somehow I still feel like I have the right to demand that writers take a good look through Strunk & White or something.


~Homophones--these are really not that hard if someone will take three seconds to think before using their/they're/there, its/it's, and a few others each time.  Plus, be consistent.  So frustrating when authors use 'they're' properly once, then next instance use 'they'll' because they're not paying attention.

~Appositives--as a quick reminder to those who have understandably forgotten this bit of arcanery, an appositive is when you set something off with commas.  For instance, the sentence 'He looked out over the horizon and reached, one hand out in supplication, for absolution.' contains the appositive 'one hand out in supplication'.  I'm so tired of people not closing their appositives, creating comma splices.

~Missing out words--I know often when one types up a fic post, one is in a hurry, but seriously, this doesn't negate the need to read it carefully before clicking Post.  I see lots of entries that contain sentences missing entire words or even groups of words, and that not only makes the story more difficult to understand, it takes the reader out of the story while she has to figure out what those missing words are.

Similarly, I see he and she getting mixed up by accident, and it can be humourous, but mostly it's annoying.  Again, easily solved by checking post carefully or getting a careful beta/editor.

ETA: Ooh, I was just reminded how much this one bugs me: 'discrete/discretely' refers to a solid, concrete concept in literature or describes sets of numbers in maths. 'Discreet/discreetly', on the other hand (or foot), is what fic writers usually want, and means to perform an action in a covert or politely unnoticeable manner.

Anyway, I really just felt like I couldn't keep this in any longer; it's not meant in a mean spirit at all, and lord knows I respect the hell out of all the writers out there.  Just, please, make sure you take the time your awesome stories deserve and go over them a lot right before you click that post button!

So, I really do love this about the internet: I sit here with my best friend, in the same room, and we have two different threads going on lj. Totally cracktastic threads, I might add.