The future is not quite yet a boot stamping down on the human face forever, but it seems that the present has become an ever-watchful eye relentlessly observing that human face.

I was going to write a long rant about the latest trampling of the fourth amendment, but a Canadian writer at a UK tech publication did a better job than I , although ( Read more... )

I have seen some reactions in Internet places (Slashdot and others) I frequent that the way the manhunt for the marathon bombing suspects was handled by the authorities was an invasion of civil liberties and should have been handled very differently. Specifically, they assert that the "lockdown" of Watertown, Cambridge, Boston, and others was ( Read more... )

HDCP, the encryption/DRM that is used to protect the signal from blue-ray players, etc has been broken. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369280,00.aspRead more... )

Rush is in Boston on Sept 14. I'm thinking of going. Anyone interested in joining me? Tickets are about $50.

Aaaagh the magical ponies are coming for me.

As an article from Duke University Law discusses, a number of important works published prior to 1976 would be entering the public domain this year, including Fahrenheit 451, The Crucible, Second Foundation and others (see the article for some others). I say would have. Prior to 1976, the maximum term of copyright was 56 years (see here (Wikipedia) ( Read more... )

I've long wanted to back up my cell phone (specifically the address book, which it would be quite a sad thing to lose), but until now haven't had the right methods. Nokia has a piece of software I've used before, but it only works on Windows, and as I rarely boot windows I only used it very infrequently. Today I discovered a piece of software ( Read more... )

A woman was fired for using words in all caps, red, and bold in an email to coworkers. I say it's about time. (In all seriousness, she was awarded damages for unfair dismissal, etc and it wasn't something to fire someone over).

I am currently sitting on an MBTA train (because I get to pick up Amber tonight :)) with nothing particular to do, and as some of the MBTA trains now have wifi (like the Dartmouth Coach though a bit slower/less reliable) and (unlike the Dartmouth Coach) they have enough leg and arm room to make using a laptop moderately comfortable (at least when ( Read more... )

As this blurb from The Register points out. Apparently an editorial on Obama's health care plan got these facts a little mixed up.

(While I am amused at the idiocy of the editorial and not opposed to national health care, I haven't paid enough attention to the details of the plan to know whether or not I support it)

I have a distinct problem with doing schoolwork at the computer. There is only a certain amount of research I can do before becoming abominably (also, abdominally) tired of it, and there are so many other uses for the computer besides research, so many pointless ways to fritter away my time.