Create an e-annoyance, go to jail Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. It’s no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. It’s a good thing that I disclose my full name on this […]

The report that men are not allowed to sit next to unaccompanied children on two airlines (Air New Zealand and Qantas) is so ridiculous (and infuriating) that I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it. Unfortunately, as reported by Stuff, it is not. In Human rights inquiry into airline policy, Stuff […]

BusinessWeek online reports in Sony BMG’s Costly Silence SLOW TO ACT? Sony BMG is in a catfight with a well-known computer-security outfit that became aware of the software problem on Sept. 30 and notified the music company on Oct. 4 — nearly a month before the issue blew up. F-Secure, a Finland-based antivirus company that […]

Gargh! SPACE.com’s article includes, “A group of Republican lawmakers led by Mike Pence of Indiana last week said the $104 billion to replace the shuttles with a new spaceship and rockets to carry astronauts back to the moon ought to be canceled to help pay to rebuild the hurricane-wrecked Gulf Coast.” I wonder if we […]

Joseph, in The Corpus Collosum, is waving the banner in support of the Anti-Cronyism and Public Safety Act, which would prohibit the President from appointing unqualified individuals to critical public safety positions in the government. Cronyism certainly is not new. I’ll bet that the second caveman to make fire was the brother of the guy […]

I was concerned to read, “The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. The draft also includes the option of using nuclear arms to destroy […]

I am not a Bush fan but I do want to acknowledge his courage and leadership in these statements, made today: President Bush said Tuesday, “To the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.” Full details from AP here. Now that you have accepted responsiblity, Mr. Bush, what will […]

Update 9/11/05: Persuaded by a CNN law suit, the feds have backed down. Feds Drop Media Ban on Katrina Recovery Following is the remainder of my original story:

Paul Krugman of The New York Times writes what I have been wondering, but much more eloquently, in A Can’t-Do Government Here is a little sample: Yesterday [Thursday, September 1] Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that […]

I used to co-own a small software company and RFPs became so burdensome and expensive to answer that we eventually adopted a policy of refusing to reply. Yes, it cost us business opportunities but I believe that, in the long run, we were spending more money answering the silly things than we made on the […]

There are many freedoms here in America and I am often guilty of taking them for granted. Today is different. On this day in 1735, freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal […]

Hats off to Smugmug’s Chief Geek, Don MacAskill, for his open letter, Giving back to open-source. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone viewed open source developers and software in the same light?

What happens when an innocent American citizen is arrested in Iraq in 2005? He spends 55 days in prison, never gets to see a lawyer, and is only released after the ACLU, the Los Angeles Times and the The New York Times get involved. Fifty-one days after arrest, the Detainee Status Board at Camp Victory […]

In this article, Reuters describes a group of British teachers which wants to replace “fail” in classrooms with “deferred success.” I’ll have to remember that one. Sorry, officer. I didn’t fail to observed the speed limit. I have simply had deferred success with the speed limit. Yeah. That’s the ticket…. 😛

The notion of a global economy does not usually protrude on my life above the level of background noise. Today, however, I received a postcard that made me notice just how small our world has become. A Korean company (Temco, if you are curious) actually sent a postcard from Korea to my PO box in […]

According to the Post-Dispatch, getting a driver’s license in Missouri is getting a whole lot more difficult and time consuming. From the article: To renew Missouri drivers license Beginning Friday, customers at Missouri license offices must provide proof of citizenship, proof of identity and proof of residence. The fee for a regular drivers license is […]

I found this on Craiglist and figured that it was alternately hilarious and thought-provoking. I wish I knew who the original author was so that I could give credit where it is due. Oh, yes, before I forget. If you find yourself taking this too seriously, breathe and get a clue. 😛 Enjoy! I’ve been […]

News.com reports that Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption, presuming that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent. “We find that… the existence of an encryption program on his computer was at least somewhat relevant to the state’s case against him,” Judge R.A. Randall wrote […]