vBulletin threatens site over ‘depravity’

Jelsoft is the British developer of the popular vBulletin forum software that I use on Foot.ie and several other sites. They pay a third party, Howard Spinks, primarily to manage their licencing, but also for plausible deniability in the cases where he fucks up. (He’s your lawyer Jelsoft; he’s your responsibility.)

Like this one, where he’s effectively ordered a site to remove “morally devoid” comments from the site in order to “avoid a likely revocation of license”. Or the time he threatened me with legal action – despite having zero ability to follow through on it – because he didn’t do his homework and check licencing correctly. In other words he’s a scumbag opportunist that gives real lawyers a bad name.

Whatever about the moral standing of the posts in questions – I don’t doubt they were dodgy – trying to somehow police how software is used is not just ignorant, it’s positively stupid. One can only hope Jelsoft will finally put this monkey outside the door. They’re already trying to put the fire out on their forum.

The Art of Deception Revealed

LiveScience.com : I was lucky enough to learn the art of improvising from one of the greatest “teachers” on the subject, the Amazing Randi. I had met him only a few hours before, nearly twenty years ago, and he was already teaching me how to conduct a perfect swindle!

Randi had come to Italy to help us promote CICAP, the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, and he was expected to be on a talk show in Rome to discuss his work and talk about the Committee. The host, an actress called Marisa Laurito, asked him what he was going to do in front of the cameras, and he said that he planned to duplicate a drawing made by her in secret. She agreed and asked what was needed.

7 Things You Didn’t Know About PETA

I did know most of these, but I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t, and should.