How To Bypass Wikipedia’s Stupid SOPA Blackout

So if you’ve been to Wikipedia at all today, you have no doubt noticed that instead of your desired web page, you’re instead being shown a big, black page directing you to take action to prevent Congress from passing a really stupid piece of legislation called SOPA. It’s a really bad law which will infringe free speech and basically break the Internet all at the behest of some already-stupidly-wealthy special interests. I definitely encourage you to take action against SOPA if you haven’t already.

Some of us have work to do, though, and besides being a great resource on Justin Bieber’s hair, Wikipedia also has a plethora of important and useful technical information. Fortunately for us, Wikipedia chose about the most brain-dead way possible to implement their blackout: a script. So, if you would like to bypass their blackout, simply block the following URL using your favorite ad blocker in your browser:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BannerController&cache=/cn.js&303-4

Mohela Is A Pack Of Thieves

I graduated from college in 2000, with some student loans courtesy of the Department of Education. I consolidated them in 2004, and have been paying diligently through direct debit for the past eight years. I was fortunate and didn’t have much student debt, and the payment amount was low enough that I rarely thought about it. Month after month, year after year, my payment would be withdrawn from my checking account, marching steadily towards a payoff date sometime in 2013.

Enter Mohela.

Several weeks back, I started receiving letters about my loan. First was a notice from the Department of Education that they had given my loan to a company called Mohela for servicing. Then I received similar letters from Mohela itself. (Stupidly, Mohela has also started sending me monthly paper statements.) But whatever – it’s fine. I don’t really care who collects the money as long as my loan is being paid off and the terms haven’t changed.

Until today.

Today I opened another letter from Mohela, dated January 10, 2012. It explains inside that my loan terms have changed. The interest rate is the same, but my monthly payment has decreased 74%, and my loan term has been extended until 2019! The only explanation for this change is a cryptic statement at the very end of the letter:  ”** Your terms have been re-calculated to maintain federal/program guidelines **”.

So let me get this straight, Mohela: You want me to pay the same interest rate on a principal balance that – under the new terms – is now decreasing at a significantly slower rate than before for an additional six years?! I don’t think so. Your little “re-calculation” works out to a significant increase in the total amount of interest I’m paying on that loan, without my consent. Sorry – I didn’t agree to that. You’re trying to steal from me.

I’ll be calling the Department of Education to complain on Tuesday, and I’ll be paying off the loan immediately. They aren’t going to get a single cent of additional interest out of me. I won’t be calling Mohela, however. They can suck it. It’s just not worth my time to try and get the payment terms restored.

That Song From The Commercial For Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

It’s always cool when music you’ve liked for a really long time hits mainstream. It gets used on a commercial or in a movie trailer or played at a sporting event, and when the person next to you says, “Wow! What is that song?” you can just tell them. That happened several times with E.S. Posthumus, and every time it was awesome introducing somebody to new music. (And if you are a fan of grand, cinematic-style music and haven’t checked out E.S. Posthumus yet – well, you’re missing out.)

I don’t have a whole lot of interest in seeing the new movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but the commercials playing on TV are playing a great track off The Cinematic Orchestra’s album Ma Fleur called To Build A Home. You should probably just go ahead and buy it now.