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Despite numerous legal setbacks and continued pressure from copyright holders, The Pirate Bay is still very much alive.

With millions of visitors each day the site has earned a steady spot in the list of Top 100 most-visited sites on the Internet, and the notorious torrent index continues to expand. Over the past two years the number of uploaded files has doubled to nearly 75,000 per month.

Today we take a look at the various types of content being uploaded by Pirate Bay users, and how sharing patterns have changed over the years.

The chart below shows the number of monthly uploads from November 2004 until November 2013. In the early days Pirate Bay users added little over 2,000 files in a month. At the time audio and video were the most popular categories, with 35% and 34% respectively.

Two years later, in 2006, the uploads had already tripled to more than 7,000 torrents. Audio and video were still the most used categories, but the latter was now more popular (30% vs. 40%).

Pirate Bay uploads November 2004 to November 2013

While the number of uploaded videos continued to grow, the audio category did not. November 2008 was the month with the most audio uploads for The Pirate Bay, with 9,600 added torrents and 27% of the total. Last November less than 10% of all uploads were in the audio category.

At the same time, the software and games categories aren’t expanding much either, with both good for just 2% of total uploads.

The video category, on the other hand, continued to expand up to 32,000 uploads last November, which is good for 44% of all added files. One of the reasons that video is more popular is that there are many release groups publishing their own versions of movies and TV-shows.

Another category that has seen rapid growth, in more ways than one, is porn. During the first years of the Pirate Bay porn was good for less than 10% of all uploads, but by last November this had swelled to 35%.

This rapid growth can in part be explained by the fact that the torrent site made its porn category public in 2012. Before that it was less visible, as only logged in users were able to see the content.

Pirate Bay uploads per category, November 2013

The upload statistics show that sharing patterns have changed significantly over time. The current numbers reveal that video content is dominating the site, with nearly 80% of all uploads if we include porn.

Music, on the other hand, appears to be losing the public’s interest, perhaps because there are so many alternative ways to enjoy it nowadays.

It will be interesting to see how these trends develop during the years to come, and whether the growth in uploads will ever stop.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and VPN services.

7 Myths About The Brain That You Probably Believe..(Read...)

The folks from White Label sent over one of their SoundDew Wireless Speakers to review and we’re really loving this durable little speaker. As you can see above the speaker is palm-sized (about 3″ across) and has a small loop on the top. It’s pretty lightweight and has a rubbery outer ring and back with a hard plastic front speaker grill. Our first order of business was to charge it up via the included USB cable. The battery charged up in a few hours and although we haven’t used it up, it should be good for about 10 hours of playback and 100 hours on standby. There are 3 buttons on the side:

Setup was simple, we pressed the center button to turn it on, then held it down until we were able to connect it via Bluetooth to the phone. It can connect with any Bluetooth device- phone, iPod, computer, etc. The Bluetooth works up to 33 feet away and we were able to use it anywhere in the house without any issues- even while the phone was charging in another room. Next up was to really take advantage of it and bring it in the shower. Yes, the shower- it’s water resistant (IPX4 level- which means it can stand drops of water and splashing for 5 minutes).

There are two things we were looking for- would it work while getting wet and would it be loud enough to hear the music over the shower. It passed on both counts. While you’re not going to use it in place of your booming bass subwoofer and home theater system, it certainly was loud and clear enough to hear over the shower and to fill up any room with a fair amount of sound for it’s size. The volume buttons were simple enough to use with wet hands.

There it is, wet and still working. The SoundDew also has a built-in microphone, so you can use it to take and receive calls. The rubber loop on top makes it ideal for hanging in your shower, boat, poolside, or on your bike or backpack. It’s water resistance and durability make it a great little speaker for outdoor sports and beach enthusiasts too. Or use it while washing dishes and keep your phone safely protected in your pocket.

Overall we really liked the SoundDew. Does it have a thousand buttons and every feature under the sun? No. Does it work great as a durable, basic and highly portable speaker that can get dusty and wet and still let you hear your music? Absolutely.

Review: SoundDew Wireless Water Resistant Speaker
Check out our Craziest Gadgets Shop for unique gifts!

Faith Karimi / CNN:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio: 38 Arizona inmates who defaced flag to eat only bread, water  —  (CNN) — A diet of bread and water is the punishment for dozens of Arizona inmates who allegedly defaced American flags placed in their jail cells.  —  The 38 male inmates are part of the Maricopa County jail system …

“This home movie clip begs the question, why did we ever stop playing with baby raccoons? My husband found this vintage cute on YouTube where it says, ”This is from a collection of 16mm home movies purchased at a flea market. It appears to be 1960s era Kodachrome.” -Megan M.

“Kodachro-oh-ome! You give us those nice bright colors, you give us the greens of summers, makes you think all the world’s sunny day. Oh yeah!”

If you don’t know what Kodachrome is, it was color camera film. And if you don’t know what camera film is, well, get offa my lawn! (shakes cane).

Lyrics by Paul Simon, and if you don’t know who that is then – gah.

Napa to New York
And many towns in between
Penny gets around

via

Thanks Tom

Coincidences?

This strange announcement came last night from the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York. Author and conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who produced the documentary 2016: Obama’s America that went after Barack Obama in the middle of the last election cycle, has been indicted for allegedly pushing $20,000 in straw-man contributions into […]

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A Kansas man who answered a lesbian couple’s Craigslist ad seeking a sperm donation is responsible for paying child support, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports.

A judge made the final ruling on the case this week.

In 2010, Angela Bauer and her partner Jennifer Schreiner wrote a Craigslist ad that read: “We are foster and adoptive parents, and now we desire to share a pregnancy and birth together.”

William Marotta answered the ad, and according to the Daily Dot, he and the couple signed a contract stating he was under no obligation to support the child financially over the course of its lifetime.

But District Court Judge Mary Mattivi ruled William Marotta is the child’s legal father and as result, he would be required to pay child support.

So then how come he has to pay up?

Both parties involved failed to complete all of the necessary steps required for a legal sperm donation, like using a licensed physician for the artificial insemination procedure.

Judge Mattvi writes,

Kansas law is clear that a ‛donor of semen provided to a licensed physician for use in artificial insemination of a woman other than the donor’s wife is treated in law as if he were not the birth father of a child thereby conceived, unless agreed to in writing by the donor and the woman. In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to conform to the statutory requirements of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties’ self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental rights and responsibilities.

Both Bauer and Schreiner have opposed the state’s attempts to require Marotta to pay child support.

“This was a wonderful opportunity with a guy with an admirable, giving character who wanted nothing more than to help us have a child,” Bauer told the Capital Journal. “I feel like the state of Kansas has made a mess out of the situation.”

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