Politics
Good to see Ars Technica walking the walk on copyright law. Abuse is rife by both sides of the copyright debate, so it's good to see them take a stand that reflects the true nature of the law:
But of course, you can reproduce and distribute and cache much of this information for a variety of reasons under US copyright law. We told readers that we would look into the issue, and Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher agreed to ask our corporate lawyers about making a small change to the notice.
I'm only four chapters into Atlas Shrugged, but the parallels to modern events are startling. The main industry that this book involves (at least so far) is the railroad business:
Then it was said that large, established railroad systems were essential to the public welfare; and that the collapse of one of them would be a national catastrophe; and that if one such system had happened to sustain a crushing loss in a public-spirited attempt to contribute to international good will, it was entitled to public support to help it survive the blow.
Substitute railroad for bank and we have just read...
I woke up this morning surprised, like every other American, that Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I can't say that I'm really happy for him, nor I am I angry that he received it. When I had mentioned this to some coworkers who hadn't heard the news, the first question they asked was, "For what?" Considering that nominations had to be proposed by early February, Obama would have only been in office a few weeks before someone put his name in for consideration. The media were abuzz about this same question and apologists were quick to...
First and foremost, I am not an Obama shill, quite far from it. So on that note, why all the controversy of Obama addressing the students of this nation to encourage them to do better? I think Obama understands, as do I, the complete utter lack of accountability that people my age and younger have about their future. We live in an age where our dreams rest upon the fantasies of getting something for nothing. We care not for hard work and determination, where everything in life is granted by handouts and even our failings are assuaged by purple check...
The Forces Of Evil™ better be quaking in their boots.
If ever there were a fascinating time for sociologists and modern day communication, this is it. Spreading as quickly as some of the most virulent computer worms, news broke that Amazon.com had apparently deranked any and all books associated with homosexual topics or authors. A lot of disinformation and speculation as to the cause of the incident only fueled the controversy, but the real story here is the wildfire response in the form of tweets.
Digital torches and pitchforks were instantly raised and paraded all over the world in protest of Amazon's obvious anti-gay and lesbian stance. Confusion...
Today I received notification from my bank that my information had been compromised in a data breach of Heartland Payment Systems in late January. While I am relieved that my own data has not (yet) been compromised, this latest incident further exacerbates the ridiculous manner in which they are handled. Affected parties are not presented with detailed information on how or why the breach occurs, nor are they held accountable for the countless millions that are lost--not with fraud, but with credit card issuers who have to reissue cards, PR to explain customers the situation, and the money lost by...
News came in earlier today of Obama's pick for trade secretary, Ron Kirk. Surprise (or no surprise) that he too owes America nearly $10K in back taxes. He's the latest of Obama's cabinet picks to join the ranks of tax evasionists in the new administration. Tim Giethner, Tom Daschle, and Nancy Killefer all had their tax problems brought to headline news, but it has only been Geithner who has had the audacity to stick through the Senate proceedings to be comfirmed.
What's going on here?! It seems like Obama's surrounding himself with a bunch of crooks. The message he seems to...
Watching the inauguration was an interesting experience. It was quite awe inspiring to see the vast ocean of people that had converged on the Capitol to witness the affair. The event itself was not very long and the majority of those who came to witness it ended up watching it on jumbotron screens anyway.
Nothing wholly remarkable happened except Obama's flubbing of the Oath of Office. It seemed that Justice Roberts was giving him a bit more than a mouthful to say, but it seems to me that for such an occasion, you'd have the oath memorized anyway.
It will be very...
Recently, I wrote about the concept of an Internet that knows no boundaries in relation to how content is distributed and consumed, but today I would like to talk about it in the broader sense of free speech and censorship.
I find Internet censorship to be a deplorable concept, not because it prevents me from consuming things that a jurisdictional entity considers inappropriate or immoral, but because it stymies the legitimate aggregation and consumption of ideas.
One of the more interesting side effects of the Information Revolution has been the unification of our people--not in some patriotic or otherwise political sense, but...
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