YORKED.

I've been Yorked.

But first, the good news:

I've finished the article for the DW book. The first draft went off in May, the revisions were done by September, and neither my editor nor the other editor have any other changes! This is the part where I do jazz hands, happy dances and generally feel better about my life.

The bad news is that I didn't get paid for TAing.

*sigh*

Unlike my friends (at least four cases that I've heard of), no one bothered to contact me to tell me that I got booted. I did have the problem of being a bit too background (having to confirm that yes, I do have a job), but at no point did anyone inform me that my contract wasn't... happening.

The thing is, I've done the work, and now I need to get paid for it. I don't have time or energy for this battle.

*SIGH*

EDIT: I can't get enough of the new Mika single. Dancing like nobody's watching is the best thing ever.

EDIT 2: And then there's this piece of awesome from today's Good Morning America ( behind the cut )

EDIT 3: By some miracle the person who could help me with the paycheque kerfuffle was still at her desk nearly two hours after the work day was over and just gave me a call. I may be able to get my pay on Monday. HOORAY FOR AWESOME PROGRAM ASSISTANTS.

HEY CANADIAN PIRATES!

The Pirate Party of Canada needs some more members before it can be recognized as an official political party. Elections Canada wants paper originals of the registration forms. (yikes!)

Earlier this year, Sweden's Pirate Party gained a seat in the European Parliament, and a few months later, a German MP who had been sitting as an independent in his national legislature joined the German Pirates.

This isn't a joke party, but a serious (if cheeky) movement that stands for (as they say on their website): copyright reform, reform of the patents system, better respect of privacy, net neutrality, open government. I'll have to read further to see what they mean by reforming the patents system (into what?), and what an open government would look like, but if they're like their European brethren, these Canadian Pirates are a group I'd not mind associating with. It's not like Harper would ever get my support, or one of his lackeys my vote; but it bears repeating that how the Conservatives are running this country (with the cabinet and PM absolutely unapproachable by even other MPs, etc) is damn scary.

When I was in Ottawa last December, I saw the void between how government and industry view media (traditional media, new media, media technologies) and how I experience media. Attempts at drafting legislation to "protect copyright" reflect this inability to see what the digital life looks like: in one version, it would have been illegal to transfer legally-purchased songs from your computer to your portable music player.

Nutty, right?

I'm going to have a good long think about joining. If none of the other parties will speak to copyright reform and net neutrality issues, then I may have to take some small action and, er, put my praxis where my theory is.


Thanks to TorrentFreak for the heads-up on this one.