Drones over NYC. If you thought SOPA was bad … Rutherford institute tells the Census Bureau to back the heck off. Ominous? Interesting? Ominously interesting. Ditto this: Punching holes in firewalls. How long would it take to break your password? You remember the good old random name generator, don’t you? This may be the best test I’ve seen of Internet invisibility. When I visited with JavaScript turned off (standard practice with unknown sites), it told me I was “very visible” in these days when most sites require JavaScript. But it didn’t tell me anything else. When I temporarily enabled JavaScript,…
Category: Miscellaneous
The newspaper that said, “Up yours” to the Internet. A bit of good news from the Supremes — though (typically) it may not mean much in practice. This Saturday is Data Privacy Day. Though since it was declared such by Congress, it may not mean much in practice, either. Good one, MamaLiberty. Did those guys in the SUV really have curly earpieces, too? LOL. Two lessons from the Megaupload seizure. Big lessons. May God (if any) keep and preserve Glenn Greenwald. Simon Black echoes the sentiments. “Another reason to homeschool,” sez D, who sent this link. What kind of screwed-up…
Cowboys, superheroes, and freedom. Intelligent dogs party down. Are the NDAA and the upcoming Enemy Expatriation Act two pieces of the same puzzle? Writers: You may want to may want to avoid self-publishing via Apple iBooks Author. The evolution of the U.S. dollar. (Tip o’ hat to D.) Yet another reason to be glad you don’t live in New York. You’ve heard about the long arm of the Feds reaching to New Zealand to shut down one of the biggest sites on the Web without due process — showing that the MPAA, the RIAA, and the fedgov hardly need SOPA.…
No, not happy news like about crippled orphans being rescued by blind puppies (though that’s good, too). Not glurge. But in the biblical flood of bad news, good news does occasionally bob to the surface and I’ve been saving up bits of it to brighten your day. So here goes: Rhode Island may defy the NDAA. (Tip o’ hat to JS.) The most important secret of a prosperous economy. Remember the homeless man with the golden voice? Well, so far, so good. (HT to SC) Obama (not intentionally, of course) might bring back the Constitution. Gaston Glock did an amazing…
What did you see — or not see — today? How was your Internet different today than all other days? I missed the heck out of coming to the blog to read comments. But I was delighted to see so many sites either blacked out or joining in spirit (as Google did with the black censorship bar over its famous logo). Wendy McElroy, The Agitator, BoingBoing, Reddit, Backwoods Home, Wired, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, Rational Review News — all were “dark with SOPA/PIPA protests when I visited them today. Oddly, Wikipedia, the most widely touted resister and a resistance…
“Why can’t they just hire a lobbyist like everyone else?” That should go down in history along with “Let them eat cake.” Anybody familiar with this? Useful or not? Libertarianism and science fiction. Yeah. Just gets creepier. And creepier. And creepier. (But remember, not inevitable and potentially monkeywrenchable.) This looks interesting. (Tip o’ hat to C^2.) Bastards. But as always, always, always — ya gotta laugh at ’em. (Tip o’ hat to Kevin in comments.) (Kudos to The Usual Suspect.)
Not that I think jail is a sensible solution for anything here. But imagine if every government VIP whose projects went wrong were treated like this. “Does America Now Qualify as a Police State?” Well now, there’s a no-brainer … But inventiveness never ceases to amaze. Bush war crimes under investigation. Not in the U.S., of course. Even “Raging Grannies” are against SOPA now. Its House and Senate (PIPA) sponsors have blinked. Not good enough, still. But progress. Hey, what about the poor dog’s privacy? (Tip o’ hat to JB.) Ron Paul money bomb for South Carolina still going strong.…
Happy Friday the Thirteenth! Here’s one brief example of what SOPA could (and eventually would) do to ordinary Internet users. I think I’d like this poor old fella. For you analytical types: Here’s a survival planning guide that’s based on understanding different types of emergencies. (Tip o’ hat to D.) Claire: a foster Great Dane, then and now.* Some pix are hard to look at, but they get better. (Tip o’ hat to SR.) Today’s hot rumor: Jake MacGregor (The Advisor) may return soon after a too-long hiatus for family and health problems. Hope to have word shortly. —– *…
Freedom vs terrorism. Jim B. left this link in yesterday’s comments: There is a fund for the recently widowed teenage mother who shot that intruder last week. And for those who laughed at yesterday’s National Apricot Day, may you find your own food jones here. (Scroll down.) The anti-SOPA app: Oh, what a potential tool for boycotters of all kinds. Alas, I must admit that my own little community (which I’m dead-solid certain would never be in line to have a cannabis dispensary until the devil throws snowballs at Charles Schumer) is among the benighted many preemptively banning the heck…
Pretty good WSJ article on the Institute for Justice. And speaking of justice (or the lack thereof), how about facing 20 years in prison for feeding whales? A businessman’s top five lessons for hard times. Thomas Jefferson and his bible. A little citywide sanity in the war on drugs. But enough good news. Here are a few of the new ways your privacy can be invaded this year. Could be worse, though. You could live in the UK. Or New York. Or you could lead a dog’s life. (H/T PT) (Tip o’ hat to MJR who has become a link-locating…