Well... its been 4 years since I've done any kind of FA journal... Why am I writing this journal right now? Well the one I wrote 4 years ago is titled "Tired" and guess what... I'm not tired anymore! For 4 years my FA page has said that I am tried... and that's only sometimes true!

In other news; I've done some spring cleaning on my FA page, updated my profile information and also uploaded a bunch of artworks of both the new and old variety.

Wow, it sort of freaks me out looking at the list of past journals and seeing some from like 8 years ago... damn, I was on this site back in 2007, I was 25 back then... lots has happened since then. I've moved cities, worked as a programmer for almost 8 years, met a wonderful polar bear, made many new friends, been to 6 different countries, bought an apartment, ran a half marathon (21km), and donated a kidney.

Who knows what the next 8 years may hold.

* blows the dust off the [Create / Update] journal button and presses it *

Ever had one of those days where you were planning to do stuff and you didn't get anything done?
Well that was today, heres hoping that tomorrow will be more fruitful.

At least I got a picture up though :)

I wonder how many fellow Aussies who frequent FA actually realise that if the Australian government gets its way with the national MANDATORY net filtering (or "censorship") laws then it will probably result in sites like FA being completely banned from Australian net users.

If you're interested, here is a list of what's being filtered:

The definition of illegal content has never been defined by the government. Some content that will be on the list under ACMA's guidelines include:
Refused Classification (“RC”) content is any content which depicts:
- paedophilic activity
- child abuse
- instruction on drug use
- instruction on how to commit a crime
- bestiality
- sexual nudity involved minors
- excessive and frequent violence
- sexual activity involving minors or descriptions of it
- violence during sex
- fetish activity
- incest fantasies
- exceeds lower classification categories
- video games that exceed MA15+
- Actual sexual intercourse between consenting adults
- No violence, sexual violence or coercion
- Fisting
- Candle wax
- Bondage
- Spanking
- Golden showers
- Depiction of people over 18 as minors

There are plenty of things that I deplore that people use the internet for, and I think that those people should be stopped, but I seriously don't think systematically blocking sites is the right thing to do nor do I think it will it work.

FA ticks many of those boxes listed above and at the end of the day it doesn't matter why you go here, unfortunately its obvious that this site will be blocked under this regime.

I consider this a massive attack on peoples freedom, the overwhelming majority of people seem to deplore this action, we have experts saying it won't solve anything. I'll be certainly be looking out for ways that I can contribute to help protest what our government is doing and I hope that any other Australians who are as pissed off as me about this will also make their voices heard.

This doesn't even limit itself to "protecting the children" either, this goes much further. Australia has a very strict rating system and this will essentially block content that the government refuses to classify. Other things that you'll see blocked could be:

* Support sites for problem drug users if they instruct on the safe ways to take drugs (harm minimisation)
* Pro euthanasia sites
* Hunting sites (that instruct on how to use weaponry, etc)
* Most porn sites (the porn industry already needs to edit their content before they release in Australia as it is)
* Pro abortion sites (I hate abortion, but believe peoples opinions need to be heard)
* Sites for people with political opinions that differ from the general populace
* Anything bit torrent, file sharing, etc
* Message boards (people talk about anything and everything on message boards, user posted content could trip a filter)

In the trials that have already taken place, there have also been several false positives, several legitimate sites have accidentally been blacklisted, so if you're the owner of an accidental blacklisted site, how long does it take you to un-blacklist your site? (wade through the bureaucracy of it all) Hours? Months? how much will it cost your business if you rely on your web site? Will you be compensated?

The deep packet filtering that they use on all traffic will also slow down the internet, and while they "claim" it's almost not noticeable, I don't believe a word of that, the people making these claims to the public probably know nothing of technology.

Anyway enough ranting... I am just really pissed off about this, it's not how a democracy works!

Things are way busy at the moment so I haven't done any art, which is a pitty because it relaxes me.

Anyhow, I've picked up my pencil again, mostly practice at this stage but I might get around to drawing something good sooner or later.

Well, it's been about 6 weeks since I've been here and probably will be another 6 weeks again till I get on again.

I've had massive problems with my internet at the moment, phone companies screwing me around.

Anyhow this is a not to say that I am alive! Hopefully will be back more permanently in the next few months with some new art too.

Cyas

A while back VashDragon posted a quiz thing in his journal, and I've avoided deleting the notification in the message centre because I intend to do this quiz.

Finally I've done it, I faily to see the point but it's a mighty fine way to procrastinate.

[X] I have walked into a glass/screen door.

[ ] I have tripped on my shoelace and fallen on my face.

[ ] I have choked on my own spit.

[ ] I've seen the Matrix a bunch of times and still don't get it.

[ ] I type only with my pointer fingers.

[X] I have accidently caught something on fire.

[ ] I've told a cop to freck off and gotten screwed for it.

[ ] I've attempted to sip out of a straw but it accidently went into my nose, rather than my mouth.

[X] sometimes when I think of something funny, I laugh out loud and people look at me weird.

[X] I've caught myself drooling.

[X] I've accidently caused an explosion.

[ ] If someone says the word "fart", I can't help but laugh.

[ ] I've turned into a "do not enter" one way road plenty of times.

[ ] Sometimes I just stop thinking & zone out.

[ ] It is POSSIBLE to lick your elbow.

[X] I just tried to lick my elbow.

[ ] People often shake their heads and walk away from me.

[ ] People often tell me to use my "inside voice".

[ ] Gum has fallen out of my mouth while talking.

[X] I've used my fingers to do simple maths

[X] I've jumped off a moving vehicle.

[ ] I ate a bug for $5 or less.

[X] I'm taking this test when I should be doing something more important

[ ] I repost chain letters because I'm scared of what they threaten will happen if I don't.

[ ] I've done something really stupid while I was drunk.

[ ] I've ran around naked when I was drunk.

[ ] I've ran into a golfcart tyre when I was drunk.

[X] I've searched all over the place for something, and then realized it was in my hand the whole time.

[ ] I accidently break a lot of things.

[ ] My friends know not to use big words around me.

[ ] My friends like me because I'm fun to laugh at.

[X] I move my head to the side when I'm confused.

[X] Sometimes I start telling a story and suddenly forget what I'm talking about.

[ ] I've fallen out of my chair before.

[X] When I'm laying in bed, I sometimes stare at the ceiling and try to find pictures and words in the texture.

Times your result by four.

13 x 4 = 52%
I don't know what the result means but there it is.

Now I can finally remove that new journal entry notification from my message centre!

I don't think I'll use the journal feature of this site much so here is a link to my personal blog:
http://nicholasfurgiuele.spaces.live.com/
Also my myspace page, but I hardly update this:
http://myspace.com/nicfromnewy/

Feel free to visit, any of these sites and leave comments, etc.

I noticed other people doing thing in their journals, and in the interest of sharing information about myself, I thought I would also do it.

[A is for age]
24
[B is for booze of choice]
Beer (Boags Premium) and Burbon + Vanilla Coke
[C is for career of choice]
Either video games or software developer.
[D is for your drug of choice]
Caffiene
[E is for one essential item you use everyday]
My PDA, I wouldn't know what I have going on without it.
[F is for favorite song at the moment]
Anything from the Cat Empire.
[G is for favorite game]
Mario Kart 64
[H is for Hometown]
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
[I is for instruments you play]
None, used to play the keyboard
[J is for favorite juice]
Orange
[K is for kids]
None
[L is for last hug]
Last week.
[M is for marriage?]
Nope
[N is for nickname]
Nic (quite boring yes), I have other more abstract names, but I don't wanna share :P
[O is for number of overnight hospital stays]
7 when I was a baby almost died, none since.
[P is for phobias]
Heights!
[Q is for quote]
"Never assume"
[R is for biggest regret]
Being undecisive, I could have gotten a lot further if I had a solid plan and stuck to it.
[S is for singing]
Usually while playing pool.
[T is for time you woke up]
Today 9:30am, it's Sunday after all, otherwise btw 7 and 7:30am
[U is for underwear]
Briefs, it's a hard habbit to break.
[V is for vegetable you love]
Capsicum, known as a "bell pepper" in the USA I believe.
[W is for worst habit]
Damn 9am toilet trip every day, I'd love that to end.
[X is for number of x-rays you've got]
lol, gawd I don't know, say 10 (mostly from the dentist).
[Y is for yummy food you make]
Toasted sandwiches.
[Z is for zodiac sign]
Aquarius.