Light up your Life - creatively!

This webpage has some of the coolest, most creative lights I have seen in a very long time.

... and yes, that is the ON switch! The lampshade is optional, depending on your level of cheek-blushing! LOL

80's Music Videos

In the pre-internet world, many of us (me included) heard many songs from the 80's but never knew that there was a video to go with it.

For me the 80's were a defining time in music history. In the wake of punk - which completely deconstructed popular music, but before the record industry was able to compartmentalize and brand the new music, the 80's produced a flood of creative, individual, and original voices that are as cool, and listenable today as they were 25 years ago.

Enjoy!

Coffee, Tea or your PC?

The perfect gift for a PC-using geek on your list:

The ultimate in geek chic porcelain comes from MOD Design in Taiwan, whose little cups and circuit board saucers offer a tea break for those moments when you need to reboot or force quit your computer.

Spider-man now has a gay ally

Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-man, is planning to unleash the world's "first homosexual superhero in a new television programme".

Here are some other gay superheroes:

Northstar
Although originally a member of Alpha Flight, a fictional team of Canadian superhumans, Northstar is later portrayed as a member of the X-Men. He is one of the first openly gay superheroes in American comic books.

Extraño
Outwardly resembling nearly every stereotype of a gay man, Extraño initially wore loose colorful garments and has a lively, jovial attitude. He refers to himself as "Auntie" and usually imparts parent-like advice to his teammates. In reality, he may be the very first openly gay superhero

... and last, but certainly NOT least (their sexualities yet to be confirmed though):

The Ambiguously Gay Duo
Created and produced by Robert Smigel and J.J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches on Saturday Night Live.^[2] It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question.

Ciao, Baby

"Dear Andrea, I’m sorry to tell you this. Mark passed away last week. He was killed in a car accident. I’m Jeff, I was his friend. Dear Andrea, I would like to suggest that you stick to your plan and come here anyway..."

If you could go back, what would you say to the one you loved? When fates collide, a new story begins.

I know nothing about this film, never heard of it before, but it looks like it could be sweet. Here is a trailer for it.

Apple to remove copy-protection from iTunes and make pricing more flexible

Apple Inc. closed its final appearance at the Macworld trade show in San Francisco on Tuesday by cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and disclosing that soon every track will be available without copy protection.

Apple offered the record labels that flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of "digital rights management" (DRM) technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. By the end of this quarter, Apple said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available without DRM.

While iTunes is the most popular digital music store, others have been faster to offer songs without copy protection. Amazon.com Inc. started selling DRM-free music in 2007 and swayed all the major labels to sign on in less than a year.

Even afterward, there is something you can do.

IMAGE: Mexican campaign against discrimination toward HIV carriers
http://blog.uncovering.org/en/archives/2007/03/against_the_discrimination_of_hiv_carriers.html

Following from the previous item about PRE-exposure drugs, here is a discussion of a treatment that is already available to people who might have just been exposed to HIV.

Gay men may not be accessing HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in situations when its use would be warranted, a study published in the online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections suggests.

Investigators in Brighton conducted interviews with 15 gay men who were currently taking, or had recently completed, a course of post-exposure prophylaxis after unprotected anal intercourse. They found that prior to accessing this treatment, the men generally had a poor understanding of what post-exposure prophylaxis involved.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (a short course of treatment with antiretroviral drugs after possible exposure to HIV) is becoming increasing available for individuals reporting sexual risk behaviour. The number of gay men presenting for such treatment has increased following targeted advertising campaigns and the publication of professional guidelines.

There is robust evidence that post-exposure prophylaxis can prevent infection with HIV. But there have been reports of HIV infection despite its use following possible sexual exposure to the virus. In many instances these infections can be attributed to ongoing sexual risk behaviour.

Picture it ... Italy, Suddenly Last Winter

Suddenly Last Winter is the story of Gustav and Luca. Their life changes when the Italian government presents a draft law that would give rights to unmarried and gay couples, prompting a wave of homophobia in Italy. The Vatican and conservatives fight against it, preaching that the end of morality and the family are nigh if the legalisation on civil unions is not blocked. Together for over eight years, Luca and Gustav want to understand the different positions and undertake a journey into a country they did not know before and did not expect to find: their own.

Here is a trailer for the film

Click through to the website to see a video/discussion by the film makers

Can Doctors prescribe The Cocktail to prevent people from getting infected with HIV?

Three-quarters of gay and other men who have sex with men would be willing to take pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection, American researchers report in the January 1^st 2009 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The investigators hope their research will help identify men willing to participate in pre-exposure prophylaxis studies or who would benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis programmes.

Research into the development of an HIV vaccine has been disappointing and development of a microbicide is developing at a slow pace.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis involves HIV-negative individuals with a high risk of HIV infection taking daily antiretroviral therapy to prevent infection with the virus (but NOT an immunization).

South Africa is first country to appoint openly gay man or woman to a nation's highest court

In a genuinely pathbreaking act, South African President Mothlanthe has appointed Edwin Cameron, a justice on the Supreme Court of Appeal, as a judge of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Judge Cameron becomes the first openly gay man or woman ever appointed to a nation's highest court. HT to Robert Wintemute, who noted in an e/mail that Justice Michael Kirby of Australia has served as an openly gay member of that country's highest court, but was not out when he was appointed.