Ben Stones' Personal Tech Blog on Windows, Mac, Software and Hardware
May
19
You can use a variety of programming languages to create ASP.NET applications - including Visual Basic, C#, and many others. You can create ASP.NET applications using any supported .NET programming language. The common languages used are Visual Basic and C#. These are by no means easy languages to learn, as they're very in-depth if you do not understand concepts the concept of object oriented programming, as .NET is an entirely object-oriented framework.
What is the ".NET framework"?
The .NET framework is the back-end language you use to create Windows and Web applications using Visual Studio (or Visual Basic/C# Express Edition). The .NET framework provides the back-end libraries and other functionality that makes it possible to create applications in the first place, such as buttons, textboxes - but not just graphical objects - also technical libraries to assist you with anything from connecting to databases to executing regular expressions (which are kind of like a complex and highly-featured conditional statement).
ASP.NET applications consist primarily of the following:
ASP.net
ASP.net Tutorials
Object Oriented Programming Tutorial
MSDN - What are Master Pages?
Master Page Tutorials
Web Server Controls (MSDN)
Web Server Controls (W3Schools)
What is the ".NET framework"?
The .NET framework is the back-end language you use to create Windows and Web applications using Visual Studio (or Visual Basic/C# Express Edition). The .NET framework provides the back-end libraries and other functionality that makes it possible to create applications in the first place, such as buttons, textboxes - but not just graphical objects - also technical libraries to assist you with anything from connecting to databases to executing regular expressions (which are kind of like a complex and highly-featured conditional statement).
ASP.NET applications consist primarily of the following:
- .aspx file: The .aspx file is the ASP.NET file that contains markup that looks strinkingly similar to HTML. It is actually specific to ASP.NET, for example the following is a textbox server control:
It does exactly what a HTML textbox would do, but it is processed by ASP.NET, and ASP.NET sends the HTML to the end user visiting your website. You can also have your own HTML elements controlled by ASP.NET, by having the runat="server" attribute added to an HTML tag, which then allows you to access the textbox via ASP.NET VB/C# code, for example in order to get the contents of the textbox. And the great thing about ASP.NET development is that it feels very similar to desktop development.Code:<asp:TextBox ID="TitleTextBox" Width="611px" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
It's important to note by default .aspx files also have code-behind files, which have a .vb or .cs extension (such as contactus.aspx.vb for Visual Basic, .cs for C#, etc.) and your application logic concerning the contactus.aspx ASP.NET file would go in the code-behind. You can indeed have VB/C# code directly in the .aspx file, but the code-behind file is a feature because it's easy to have cluttered code with application logic and presentation code mixed together (i.e. VB code and HTML / CSS code, as an example). - Master Pages: These are a way to separate common HTML code, such as headers, footers and so on, from the individual .aspx files that will contain HTML code or segments of code that are uniquely specific to that individual page. Essentially, you link your Master Page into the relevant .aspx file, and then any HTML code within the Master Page is sent to the end user when they access the .aspx file, as the Master Page would of been linked to the .aspx file. With Master Pages, you can also add Content Place Holders. What if the header of your Master Page may vary with certain .aspx files, or the stylesheet file is different for certain .aspx files? You can have a Content Place Holder server control in the <head> section of the Master Page, and then you would reference the Content Place Holder in your .aspx file - and add the relevant HTML code or text in that control to be output to the end user. And this is unique to each .aspx file. So if you use the Content Place Holder from the <head> section in, say, "contactus.aspx", any other .aspx file will not be affected - you only used the place holder in the contactus.aspx file.
- Web.config: The web.config file is essentially an XML file for changing various configuration settings relating to your application. You can add here the connection string information to connect to a database, etc., and then reference the connection string information in the Web.config file in your application code.
ASP.net
ASP.net Tutorials
Object Oriented Programming Tutorial
MSDN - What are Master Pages?
Master Page Tutorials
Web Server Controls (MSDN)
Web Server Controls (W3Schools)
May
11
Skype for Linux is still in beta, and it has been for many years. Microsoft has provided updates for Skype on both the Windows and Mac platform, but no updates have since been seen for the Linux application. It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft abandons the Linux version of its application, even though many people do indeed use the Linux version of Skype, even though it's incredibly unreliable sometimes.
I would hope Microsoft continues development of the Linux version; if they discontinue Linux support it won't really help the Linux and open source community's perception of Microsoft.
Let's hope Microsoft will wise up and realise the potential to supporting as many platforms as possible!
I would hope Microsoft continues development of the Linux version; if they discontinue Linux support it won't really help the Linux and open source community's perception of Microsoft.
Let's hope Microsoft will wise up and realise the potential to supporting as many platforms as possible!
Apr
30
A UK High Court ruling has ordered 5 major Internet service providers, being Virgin Media, Everything Everywhere, O2, TalkTalk and Sky, to block access to The Pirate Bay, a popular website for downloading copyrighted material free of charge, which is illegal under Copyright law in many countries around the world, including the UK.
It will mean if you are using one of these Internet service providers access to ThePirateBay.se may soon not work. Although I'm not entirely sure how enforceable this block will be, as anyone can use proxies or VPN services that reside from a network in another country where ThePirateBay isn't blocked in order to access ThePirateBay. Unless Governments make the use of VPN and proxies illegal, there is no way to completely prevent copyright infringement, and as Virgin Media has said, "As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price" - which I absolutely agree with, because you can't ban the use of VPN or proxies (otherwise that is plain censorship). Not everyone would also use VPNs or proxies to download copyrighted material illegally; some use VPNs for access to company networks and servers when out of the office, etc.
Let's hope these companies in the entertainment and music industry will wise up and start going with the flow of realising that better and very aggressive business models are needed to prevent copyright infringement further. For example, partnering with thousands of companies to offer the content at an attractive price. And as Apple has learned, when a great price is concerned, they make a greater profit because of "going for volume". Which is why iTunes is quite popular and successful. And Spotify.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176
It will mean if you are using one of these Internet service providers access to ThePirateBay.se may soon not work. Although I'm not entirely sure how enforceable this block will be, as anyone can use proxies or VPN services that reside from a network in another country where ThePirateBay isn't blocked in order to access ThePirateBay. Unless Governments make the use of VPN and proxies illegal, there is no way to completely prevent copyright infringement, and as Virgin Media has said, "As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price" - which I absolutely agree with, because you can't ban the use of VPN or proxies (otherwise that is plain censorship). Not everyone would also use VPNs or proxies to download copyrighted material illegally; some use VPNs for access to company networks and servers when out of the office, etc.
Let's hope these companies in the entertainment and music industry will wise up and start going with the flow of realising that better and very aggressive business models are needed to prevent copyright infringement further. For example, partnering with thousands of companies to offer the content at an attractive price. And as Apple has learned, when a great price is concerned, they make a greater profit because of "going for volume". Which is why iTunes is quite popular and successful. And Spotify.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176
Apr
29
Just found this out today! Press the Command/Cmd key and drag the menu icons on the right-side of the menubar. You can also "drag" icons off the menubar this way too!
Apr
28
With the introduction of Google's cloud storage competitor to Dropbox, SugarSync and SkyDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox is introducing more competitive features to encourage people to use Dropbox, including up to 3GB of free additional storage by using Dropbox's new "Automated Camera Upload" feature in the latest Dropbox mobile and desktop applications. For each 500MB of photos you upload via Camera Upload, Dropbox gives you 500MB of free storage for free - up to a maximum of 3GB free. This is also in addition to Dropbox referrals that allows you to claim extra free storage space without having to pay for a commercial plan which offers more storage.
By default, Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage.
Read more on Dropbox's official blog
By default, Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage.
Read more on Dropbox's official blog
Apr
27
Programming languages work via logic. It works based on the logical conditions set out in application. For example, the PHP programming language can be used to create a membership area on a website. With a membership area, you will want to check whether a user is logged in. But how would you do this? You would of course use conditional statements in order to determine whether a user is logged in or not. Depending on the outcome of the condition determines the flow of the application code and what is ultimately displayed to the end user. In a simple explanation, this means that a "logged in" user would see the membership area, whereas a user not logged in would see a login area. You would have to create these specific areas using HTML and CSS code, obviously.
So how does if statements work specifically?
If statements are conditional statements. They are predefined conditions for PHP to check. if statements either check whether the subsequent result is TRUE or FALSE. For example:
Do note that the else statement is not mandatory, and is only required if you wish for other code logic to be executed in case the original if statement is found to be FALSE, which means the if(check_email_validation([..])) statement would be ignored.
echo is a PHP feature allowing you to display text and HTML output to the Web browser without having to escape out of PHP code tags (i.e. the <?php and ?> tags).
So, if statements work on the logical values (also known as "boolean values") - TRUE and FALSE. As simple as that.
So how does if statements work specifically?
If statements are conditional statements. They are predefined conditions for PHP to check. if statements either check whether the subsequent result is TRUE or FALSE. For example:
- Is this e-mail address supplied in the text field correct?
- Returns True: It will execute the code within the if statement
- Returns False: It will ignore the if statement in question and continue execution of the code below the if statement.
PHP:
<?php
if(check_email_validation("ben@b3ns.com"))
{
echo "Your e-mail is correctly typed.";
}
else
{
echo "Your e-mail is not correctly typed.";
}
?>
echo is a PHP feature allowing you to display text and HTML output to the Web browser without having to escape out of PHP code tags (i.e. the <?php and ?> tags).
So, if statements work on the logical values (also known as "boolean values") - TRUE and FALSE. As simple as that.
Apr
26
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) was announced by the Ubuntu team for release around lunch time UK time, and introduces some greatly welcome changes including:
Download Ubuntu
- Unity Launcher no longer auto-hides. Can set it to auto-hide and change the size of the Launcher within System Settings.
- Unity Launcher colour can now be changed with the CompizConfig Settings Manager (installed separately).
- Slightly redesigned login screen with new UI for changing between Ubuntu 3D and Ubuntu 2D modes.
- Ubuntu Software Centre loads much faster than before.
- Banshee Media Player has been replaced with the Rhythmbox Music Player which includes the Ubuntu One Music Store as Banshee did before.
- Ubuntu 12.04 will still fit on CDs. It was reported before that it would only fit on DVDs to include more software and services in this release, but that idea was not made to fruition for this release.
- Unity HUD (Heads-Up Display) is a new search-based replacement for using application menus. New in 12.04 - read more here.
Download Ubuntu
Apr
25
Yesterday, Google finally unveiled the widely reported Google cloud storage service - called Google Drive. I live in the UK and it's not yet available for me yet - so perhaps it's only available for select markets such as America for a period of time. However, Google Drive pricing is very competitive. Dropbox charges $9.99 for 50GB of storage, which is very reasonable. The difference is Google provides 200GB of storage for the same price tag. In fact, the lowest package of 25GB of storage is just $2.49 per month. This is very serious competition to Dropbox and SugarSync - which is a little concerning to say the least!
Google, however, will also offer 5GB of free storage to every Google Drive user. Which will likely be plenty for many people. However, at $2.49 per month for 25GB of storage is enticing and completely blows every other cloud storage provider on price completely.
For comparison purposes, here are the price structures of Google Drive, Dropbox, SugarSync and Ubuntu One.
Google Drive
Dropbox
SugarSync
Ubuntu One
So, what service will you be using? Dropbox, SugarSync, Google Drive (or another, such as Ubuntu One)?
Google, however, will also offer 5GB of free storage to every Google Drive user. Which will likely be plenty for many people. However, at $2.49 per month for 25GB of storage is enticing and completely blows every other cloud storage provider on price completely.
For comparison purposes, here are the price structures of Google Drive, Dropbox, SugarSync and Ubuntu One.
Google Drive
- 5GB of free storage
- 25GB of storage for $2.49 per month
- 200GB of storage for $9.99 per month
- Up to 16TB of storage (which costs $799.99 per month)
Dropbox
- 2GB of free storage
- 50GB of storage for $9.99 per month
- 100GB of storage for $19.99 per month
SugarSync
- 5GB of free storage
- 30GB of storage for $4.99 per month
- 100GB of storage for $14.99 per month
- Up to 500GB of storage at a current price of $39.99 per month
Ubuntu One
- 5GB of storage free
- $2.99 for each additional 20GB of storage (so, in theory, $29.90 for 200GB)
So, what service will you be using? Dropbox, SugarSync, Google Drive (or another, such as Ubuntu One)?
Apr
24
I had decided to create a forum a while back, and used SimplePress which integrates seamlessly into WordPress. However, a few days ago I decided to use the xenForo forum software suite and integrate the blog into the forum itself. All articles that are published are actually forum threads which are relayed on the main page as blog articles.
The forum includes more social integration as well, for example the ability to "like" posts and threads that are posted.
Hope you enjoy the new layout and arrangement. Let me know what you think!
The forum includes more social integration as well, for example the ability to "like" posts and threads that are posted.
Hope you enjoy the new layout and arrangement. Let me know what you think!
Apr
23
View attachment 1
Opera 12 will include some great new features, including support for hardware acceleration. Opera Software ASA has announced that in Opera 12, hardware acceleration for OpenGL is baked in. DirectX support will come at a later point in time.
Other new features include support for OpenGL, being a JavaScript library for the rendering of 3D graphics. It is now supported in Opera 12.
Developer-specific improvements and additions
Opera 12 now also fully supports CSS3 radial gradients.
Try Opera 12 Alpha
Download it here (opens in a new window/tab)
Opera 12 will include some great new features, including support for hardware acceleration. Opera Software ASA has announced that in Opera 12, hardware acceleration for OpenGL is baked in. DirectX support will come at a later point in time.
Other new features include support for OpenGL, being a JavaScript library for the rendering of 3D graphics. It is now supported in Opera 12.
Developer-specific improvements and additions
Opera 12 now also fully supports CSS3 radial gradients.
Try Opera 12 Alpha
Download it here (opens in a new window/tab)
Apr
23
Living can be difficult and unfair, but there can and are many great times. You just have to try not to give up hope and keep positive when you can! Humans want to attain happiness, and as an individual human being, you are entitled to happiness.
Don't give up, keep your head high and keep positive! There's a lot of negativity in this world, but it's truly what nobody wants. We all want positivity, respect and kindness and sometimes it's easy to have it shared around (but sometimes this doesn't happen).
I have to say there is a lot of positivity going on with human beings, and I highly respect and am happy people in this world are here helping others in whatever they are good at. Whether it's through charity work, donations or anything else, it all attributes to the common good of us all.
For example, I read an article on the Guardian about an organisation called the Christian Muslim Forum (opens in a new window/tab) that ambitions to bridge connections and friendships between Christians and Muslims on mutual respect, kindness and understanding, and to accept the differences and respect each other as fellow human beings. And I'm sure it bridges friendships irregardless of the differences in opinion, and I would hope that it has changed the perception of people of a particular religion. While I'm not religious myself, I have to say it is great this organisation exists in order to bridge a community on friendship and not on the righteous or wrongness of one's own beliefs.
There's a lot of good out there. There's always going to be people who are ignorant, that do things that most would consider bad or evil or hateful, but this is what we have on Earth with life. It's a great shame we can't live in entire happiness, but all we can do is never give up hope, be positive and remember the good things!
Don't give up, keep your head high and keep positive! There's a lot of negativity in this world, but it's truly what nobody wants. We all want positivity, respect and kindness and sometimes it's easy to have it shared around (but sometimes this doesn't happen).
I have to say there is a lot of positivity going on with human beings, and I highly respect and am happy people in this world are here helping others in whatever they are good at. Whether it's through charity work, donations or anything else, it all attributes to the common good of us all.
For example, I read an article on the Guardian about an organisation called the Christian Muslim Forum (opens in a new window/tab) that ambitions to bridge connections and friendships between Christians and Muslims on mutual respect, kindness and understanding, and to accept the differences and respect each other as fellow human beings. And I'm sure it bridges friendships irregardless of the differences in opinion, and I would hope that it has changed the perception of people of a particular religion. While I'm not religious myself, I have to say it is great this organisation exists in order to bridge a community on friendship and not on the righteous or wrongness of one's own beliefs.
There's a lot of good out there. There's always going to be people who are ignorant, that do things that most would consider bad or evil or hateful, but this is what we have on Earth with life. It's a great shame we can't live in entire happiness, but all we can do is never give up hope, be positive and remember the good things!
Apr
23
What is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Stylesheets and is a way to style HTML web pages easily without having to use tables and other unofficial ways in order to format and design the elements on the page. In essence, CSS manipulates the default values of HTML elements (or allows you to do this, anyway) and set new design and structural values of HTML elements, such as the colour, size, position, font and so forth.
What is a CSS class?
A class in CSS is essentially a way to reuse CSS code on multiple HTML elements without having to write it each time. Same with functions in programming languages, where functions are used to wrap code that can or needs to be reused multiple times throughout the application.
You may have a class for a certain area of your web page, such as the content box and so forth.
So what is the difference between a class and an ID?
An ID is a unique identifier to an HTML element. In context, this means that a CSS ID can only be used once within your HTML document, whereas a class can be used by multiple HTML elements within your document. "HTML elements" refers to div, span, p, etc - these are all HTML elements.
So you can only use a CSS ID once. In use cases, this could be the menu bar. As most websites will likely only have one menu bar, so you may wish to use an ID in this instance, or for any other area of your website where the situation will be where the ID will be used once. For example, if there is only one main div to centre all of the content on your website, you may wish to use an ID.
However, for multiple use instances, use classes. IDs can only be used once within your HTML document.
CSS stands for Cascading Stylesheets and is a way to style HTML web pages easily without having to use tables and other unofficial ways in order to format and design the elements on the page. In essence, CSS manipulates the default values of HTML elements (or allows you to do this, anyway) and set new design and structural values of HTML elements, such as the colour, size, position, font and so forth.
What is a CSS class?
A class in CSS is essentially a way to reuse CSS code on multiple HTML elements without having to write it each time. Same with functions in programming languages, where functions are used to wrap code that can or needs to be reused multiple times throughout the application.
You may have a class for a certain area of your web page, such as the content box and so forth.
So what is the difference between a class and an ID?
An ID is a unique identifier to an HTML element. In context, this means that a CSS ID can only be used once within your HTML document, whereas a class can be used by multiple HTML elements within your document. "HTML elements" refers to div, span, p, etc - these are all HTML elements.
So you can only use a CSS ID once. In use cases, this could be the menu bar. As most websites will likely only have one menu bar, so you may wish to use an ID in this instance, or for any other area of your website where the situation will be where the ID will be used once. For example, if there is only one main div to centre all of the content on your website, you may wish to use an ID.
However, for multiple use instances, use classes. IDs can only be used once within your HTML document.
Apr
23
View attachment 3
CSS floats are a way to control the position of HTML elements within a HTML document. I do think they are very important aspects of web development, and once you understand about floats correctly, it can help you create amazing website designs that can have multiple columns, perhaps a left column for content and a right column for navigation, and so forth.
If you see the web design above, everything is centred while floats are being used to determine the position of the two main HTML div elements being used. The first div is for the left content area, and the right div is for the navigation area. But there is a parent div within these divs, that ensure that everything stays centred. Why?
The code is as follows:
The "center" div is to ensure every other element within it is centred. I used American spelling because all CSS properties use American spelling, although div names can be whatever you wish (they're like your own set CSS rules for individual div's/span's, etc). I would expect you would already know this level of CSS, however.
The "main" div contains all other elements within it, including the "contentbox" (the boxes to the left), and the upper and right-hand menu. The width bounds of these elements are constrained by the width set in the "main" div, which is 850px.
The "clear" class clears the floats that are occurring, and in CSS code it simply has the following code:
This clears floats in both directions (left and right floating). Why is this required? Because the upper menu is floated to the right, and I don't want anything below it to be part of that float. This is why the clear CSS property exists, to applicate when you wish for a float to end. An easy way to do this is have a class that does this in CSS, as shown above.
Then we have the contentbox, and the sidebar. However, notice that the sidebar is on the right. Yes, that is floated to the right. Good use for the clear class, to prematurely end the first use of floats, so we can use it at another point within the document.
So that's it. For your reference, you may want to check the actual website in which the screenshot is shown for. It's a live website - and it's opensource.b3ns.com (opens in new window/tab).
CSS floats are a way to control the position of HTML elements within a HTML document. I do think they are very important aspects of web development, and once you understand about floats correctly, it can help you create amazing website designs that can have multiple columns, perhaps a left column for content and a right column for navigation, and so forth.
If you see the web design above, everything is centred while floats are being used to determine the position of the two main HTML div elements being used. The first div is for the left content area, and the right div is for the navigation area. But there is a parent div within these divs, that ensure that everything stays centred. Why?
The code is as follows:
The "main" div contains all other elements within it, including the "contentbox" (the boxes to the left), and the upper and right-hand menu. The width bounds of these elements are constrained by the width set in the "main" div, which is 850px.
The "clear" class clears the floats that are occurring, and in CSS code it simply has the following code:
Then we have the contentbox, and the sidebar. However, notice that the sidebar is on the right. Yes, that is floated to the right. Good use for the clear class, to prematurely end the first use of floats, so we can use it at another point within the document.
So that's it. For your reference, you may want to check the actual website in which the screenshot is shown for. It's a live website - and it's opensource.b3ns.com (opens in new window/tab).
Apr
23
You can further enhance the security of your server by restricting access to SSH only to select IPs (such as your own IP). Of course, this is a little inconvenient if you have a dynamic IP, but it does mean better security of your server as a result.
Simply go to WHM (Web Host Manager) and search for Host Access Control. From there, the first line should be for your own IP, and the second line to disallow connections from any other IP. Do not put it the other way round.
For the Daemon, ensure you put sshd and not ssh.
To learn how to use vim via the Terminal, see this post on eUKhost's blog (opens in a new window) on the Vi editor; Vim being based on Vi so much will apply. Vim and Vi are command-line based text editors.
Simply go to WHM (Web Host Manager) and search for Host Access Control. From there, the first line should be for your own IP, and the second line to disallow connections from any other IP. Do not put it the other way round.
For the Daemon, ensure you put sshd and not ssh.
To learn how to use vim via the Terminal, see this post on eUKhost's blog (opens in a new window) on the Vi editor; Vim being based on Vi so much will apply. Vim and Vi are command-line based text editors.
Apr
23
In the UK, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced he wants the UK to legalise gay (same-sex) marriage. At the moment, the only legal way two people can get married is if they are of the opposite sex. And I am surprised we are in 2012 and it is still not legal to legally marry someone of the same sex; it's somewhat a discrimination to disallow those who are gay or bisexual to not be allowed to marry someone who they love. Of course, you can expect that people from the Church of England and other religious groups are not happy about what David Cameron has said and the fact that a discussion and debate has been sparked about this as a result. But I praise David Cameron for bringing up this debate, because even now the UK and the UK government is much more openly willing to give this important issue an important debate because politics nor religion should get involved in the right for two people of the same sex to get married because it is for the same reasons and values as getting married to the opposite sexes. The American government are much more resistive to allowing gay marriage and in fact, in the US military if you are found out to be gay (by telling someone, for example), I believe the stance is you are essentially removed from the military (dismissed). It's the good cultural differences between the UK and the US. I wouldn't be surprised if there is more homophobic culture in the US than the UK in politics and in society because of the cultural differences in versus to culture in the UK and culture in the US.
Of course, there is a lot of resistance to the right of gay marriage, for example from the Church of England, who obviously believe that God would not allow same-sex marriage. Some articles on the discussion are linked to below, and for complete transparency, a link to Google/Bing results for you to find your own articles on the discussion as I don't want to sound, nor be, biased:
Well, I'm wondering as to why on Earth there is political resistance to same-sex marriage. Law and politics should not dictate as to who can get married. That is a step too far. I already hate the thought of politicians dictating how we live our life with the millions of laws we have, and it is pure discrimination to not allow same-sex marriages to be legal and not to be referred to exactly the same thing as an opposite-sex marriage. There should be no distinction or differentiation between the two. Politicians will be helping culture and society move forward to make it more accepting of gay relationships, which are just as normal as straight relationships.
There should be no debate, nor have politicians got the moral right to have a say in it. They are seeing it wrong if they resist allowing same-sex marriage, because the end result is always the same: same-sex couples want to get married because they love each other - just like opposite-sex marriages that are only legal today. Right now, the legal definition of a "same-sex marriage" is a civil partnership.
But the Church of England and other religious organisations are not happy.
Of course, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland are not happy with the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which obviously to them and quite some religious people believe is against their religion and against God. I already have my views towards the religious aspect and towards religion and God in general (basically that God doesn't care whether one is gay or straight, bisexual or transgendered). But of course, it's understandable these people believe what they think is true - but in my opinion, they're wrong. And the fact is, if the Church of England had a voting say in this debate, we all know what the unanimous decision would be: no. So it's a little too biased to allow the Church of England to have a vote in it. Even then, I hope the British government will pass the legalisation of same-sex marriage. It's such an important cornerstone, and hopefully if this happens, the US may eventually go in this direction as well. To allow greater and better equality and rights for everyone, irregardless of religion or sexuality. We have, as a society, come a long way with equality towards people that have disabilities, skin colour, religious views or opinions, sexual orientation, and so forth; but we still have a long way to go, and it is time for the British government to rise to the occasion and to put aside individualistic opinions and perceptions and universally decide together what is the best thing for the majority of the British people. Instead of putting forward and resisting with your own individualistic desires, I think politicians need to realise they sometimes just need to look around and see what people want, and for important issues like this, realise the positive potential if same-sex marriage is to be legalised. Not everyone is religious, not everyone disagrees with same-sex marriage. Why should politicians or the Church of England say no to it, especially since the Church of England are religiously biased on this particular issue (and I'm sure other issues too). Well, they're biased on the fact that according to what they interpret in the bible, same-sex marriage is not religiously allowed. Which is the biased part. If they get to vote on laws, it means laws would be passed or rejected in a biased fashion. That's why it is important for the Government to always be fair, equal and non-discriminatory in any laws they pass when it concerns marriage, life, death, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of thought. It is inherently important the Government are entirely separated and do not put their own religious views as a factor towards their voting power on important laws and debates like this, or other laws that concern people's fundamental rights and equalities, such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, etc etc etc. The only way for someone in power to make as many people happy as possible is to be unbiased, equal and non-discriminatory even on your own religious or personal opinions, perceptions and/or beliefs. Do take note that in Canada, gay marriage is legal.
Of course, there is a lot of resistance to the right of gay marriage, for example from the Church of England, who obviously believe that God would not allow same-sex marriage. Some articles on the discussion are linked to below, and for complete transparency, a link to Google/Bing results for you to find your own articles on the discussion as I don't want to sound, nor be, biased:
- Archbishop warns clergy gay marriage is a 'radical step' (opens in a new window)
- Government hits back in gay marriage debate Church told not to 'polarise' gay marriage debate (opens in a new window)
- Church leaders ready to fight for traditional marriage (opens in a new window)
- UK push for gay marriage by 2015 (opens in a new window)
- Miliband gives his backing to same-sex marriages (opens in a new window)
- Google search results (same-sex marriage) (opens in a new window)
- Bing search results (same-sex marriage) (opens in a new window)
Well, I'm wondering as to why on Earth there is political resistance to same-sex marriage. Law and politics should not dictate as to who can get married. That is a step too far. I already hate the thought of politicians dictating how we live our life with the millions of laws we have, and it is pure discrimination to not allow same-sex marriages to be legal and not to be referred to exactly the same thing as an opposite-sex marriage. There should be no distinction or differentiation between the two. Politicians will be helping culture and society move forward to make it more accepting of gay relationships, which are just as normal as straight relationships.
There should be no debate, nor have politicians got the moral right to have a say in it. They are seeing it wrong if they resist allowing same-sex marriage, because the end result is always the same: same-sex couples want to get married because they love each other - just like opposite-sex marriages that are only legal today. Right now, the legal definition of a "same-sex marriage" is a civil partnership.
But the Church of England and other religious organisations are not happy.
Of course, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland are not happy with the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which obviously to them and quite some religious people believe is against their religion and against God. I already have my views towards the religious aspect and towards religion and God in general (basically that God doesn't care whether one is gay or straight, bisexual or transgendered). But of course, it's understandable these people believe what they think is true - but in my opinion, they're wrong. And the fact is, if the Church of England had a voting say in this debate, we all know what the unanimous decision would be: no. So it's a little too biased to allow the Church of England to have a vote in it. Even then, I hope the British government will pass the legalisation of same-sex marriage. It's such an important cornerstone, and hopefully if this happens, the US may eventually go in this direction as well. To allow greater and better equality and rights for everyone, irregardless of religion or sexuality. We have, as a society, come a long way with equality towards people that have disabilities, skin colour, religious views or opinions, sexual orientation, and so forth; but we still have a long way to go, and it is time for the British government to rise to the occasion and to put aside individualistic opinions and perceptions and universally decide together what is the best thing for the majority of the British people. Instead of putting forward and resisting with your own individualistic desires, I think politicians need to realise they sometimes just need to look around and see what people want, and for important issues like this, realise the positive potential if same-sex marriage is to be legalised. Not everyone is religious, not everyone disagrees with same-sex marriage. Why should politicians or the Church of England say no to it, especially since the Church of England are religiously biased on this particular issue (and I'm sure other issues too). Well, they're biased on the fact that according to what they interpret in the bible, same-sex marriage is not religiously allowed. Which is the biased part. If they get to vote on laws, it means laws would be passed or rejected in a biased fashion. That's why it is important for the Government to always be fair, equal and non-discriminatory in any laws they pass when it concerns marriage, life, death, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of thought. It is inherently important the Government are entirely separated and do not put their own religious views as a factor towards their voting power on important laws and debates like this, or other laws that concern people's fundamental rights and equalities, such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, etc etc etc. The only way for someone in power to make as many people happy as possible is to be unbiased, equal and non-discriminatory even on your own religious or personal opinions, perceptions and/or beliefs. Do take note that in Canada, gay marriage is legal.
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© Jason Axelrod from 8WayRun.Com