Monday, July 29, 2013
Baton Rouge sheriff trying to enforce unconstitutional anti-sodomy lawsIt’s been ten years since Lawrence v Texas saw anti-sodomy laws declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but I suppose stupidity is eternal. At least the District Attorney is ending the absurdity by refraining from …Saturday, July 27, 2013
Twitter UK chief responds to abuse concerns after campaigner is deluged with rape threatsThis is a disturbing story, but more broadly it represents a big step backward for a company otherwise known for standing up for its users. Jon Russell, writing at The Next Web: Wang said, via Twitter, that the …Thursday, July 25, 2013
NLRB: Overbroad social media policies may violate NLRASue Reisinger, writing at Corporate Counsel: In a warning to employers, the National Labor Relations Board has “unliked” certain social media policies that restrict an employee’s right to speak critically of the employer online, unless the …Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Christmas in jailJohn Futty, reporting for The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio: Judge Michael J. Holbrook placed Young on probation yesterday for five years and ordered that she spend a minimum of three days in jail each Christmas while on probation. This made me smile. Now, crime is bad, and Christmas …Monday, July 22, 2013
Stop taking multivitamins. Seriously.I’ll be the first to admit I took multivitamins on and off for years, always assuming vitamins could only be good for you. But the overwhelming majority of scientific studies on the subject not only debunks the myth that they help, but strongly suggests that they …Monday, July 22, 2013
Norwegian rape victim Marte Deborah Dalelv “pardoned” by UAEI wrote yesterday about Ms. Dalelv’s 16-month sentence for sex outside marriage, among other absurd charges to levy against a victim of rape, in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I’m happy to report that, according …Sunday, July 21, 2013
Dubai: Where rape is only a crime if you’re the victimUpdate: she has been “pardoned.” A Norwegian woman was raped, reported it to police, and was charged and convicted of extramarital sex, drinking alcohol, and perjury. She was sentenced to 16 months in jail. For being raped. And that’s three …Friday, July 19, 2013
MIT wants pre-release review of Secret Service file on Aaron SwartzKevin Poulsen, at Wired's Threat Level blog: MIT argues that those people might face threats and harassment if their names become public. But it’s worth noting that names of third parties are already redacted from documents produced …Monday, July 15, 2013
Tim Stevens is no longer editor-in-chief at EngadgetTwo years is a good run, and the site looks and reads far better than it did before his reign, but Tim Stevens’ exit from his role as editor-in-chief at Aol property Engadget is bad sign for the site and it’s owner. It’s never a good sign, in …Monday, June 3, 2013
Here’s a semi-article, in that it’s more like a rant, but certainly not a link post. If you’ve seen similar stuff in your dashboard, feel free to let me know. Dear Marissa and David, Joe here. I’ve used all of Tumblr’s competitors extensively and I settled on Tumblr because it’s mindfully-designed, …Monday, May 27, 2013
German railroad mulling anti-graffiti dronesWith US authorities pushing for easier backdoors into electronic communications systems, a network of anti-graffiti drones looks like a good front for general state-wide surveillance. The German privacy ethic runs deep, but it may provide an interesting …Friday, May 24, 2013
10 great free monospaced fonts for programmingI can understand why programmers may want to consider using a decent font, but it’s worth noting that writers, particularly those who prefer plain text, should also pay attention to the fonts they’re using. I like to write with a monospace font for two …Friday, May 24, 2013
Evernote’s desktop apps get integrated reminders and a task list, no love for mobile yetEvernote’s reminders are great news, and something I’ve been waiting for since at least February, but here’s all that matters to me: We have big plans to expand the functionality, and to bring it to more …Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Strongbox and Aaron Swartz: Open source, anonymous tipsThere is plenty of Google news today coming out of their annual I/O conference, but this looks far more important and big-picture, if it actually gets used.Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Minnesota governor signs same-sex marriage bill into lawNumber twelve and counting; this looks to be a big year for marriage equality in the United States.Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The pressing need for hospital pricing regulationThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published data on what hospitals charge for the most common procedures. There is much to look at, and other have done good reporting on it, notably Sarah Kliff and Dan Keating at the Washington Post …Wednesday, May 8, 2013
DARPA and deep learningThis article by Daniela Hernandez at Wired is well-done and fascinating. However, this bit most caught my eye: Half of the $100 million in federal funding allotted to this program will come from Darpa — more than the amount coming from the National Institutes of Health — and …Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Delaware becomes eleventh state to approve same-sex marriageAnd the steady march continues, as Delaware joins their ten predecessors in granting gay couples the basic American right to marry.Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Obama May Back F.B.I. Plan to Wiretap Web UsersCharlie Savage of The New York Times: the new proposal focuses on strengthening wiretap orders issued by judges. Currently, such orders instruct recipients to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies, leaving wiggle room for companies …Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Air Force sexual assault prevention officer charged with sexual batteryDisgusting. Anything less than dishonorable discharge and jail time will be an insult to victims and to this country.Friday, May 3, 2013
Now you can 3D-print a gun.Andy Greenberg at Forbes: Once the file is online, anyone will be able to download and print the gun in the privacy of their garage, legally or not, with no serial number, background check, or other regulatory hurdles. “You can print a lethal device,” Wilson told me last …Friday, May 3, 2013
Netflix launch reduces BitTorrent useJoe Hanlon of TechRadar: Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos says that there is a correlation between the Netflix launching in a country and BitTorrent traffic slowing down in the same region. If you stream it, they will pay.Thursday, May 2, 2013
Rhode Island legalizes same-sex marriageThe inexorable march of time sees a tenth state grant gay and lesbian people the statutory right to marry. Those states who have yet to get on board would do well to hurry: you’re quickly running out of time to look like you were ahead of the curve in the …Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Perfect Empty VesselThis is a good piece on how hard Facebook tries to keep the social juices flowing. Alexis Madrigal, commenting on Facebook’s designer-hiring spree: As all these designers vanish into the bowels of the company, so, too, does their work. Facebook wants to create design that …Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Path is still spamming your contactsIf you’re a Path user, consider, er, reconsidering. This is apparently the best they can do in response. CNET’s Jennifer Van Grove was told that the #1 request from users is to find friends on Path, hence the aggressive “new-user flow.” Why does “find my friends …Monday, April 29, 2013
NBA player Jason Collins comes out as gayI don’t usually cover sports here, but Collins’ coming out is a very important moment in a broader and permanent change in what it means to be and to accept LGBTQ folks. It’s a well-expressed and bold piece, and I applaud him.Friday, April 26, 2013
The next generation of InstapaperMarco Arment has turned control of his read-it-later service, Instapaper, over to incubator-turned-company-in-its-own-right Betaworks: I’m happy to announce that I’ve sold a majority stake in Instapaper to Betaworks. We’ve structured the deal with Instapaper’s …Sunday, April 21, 2013
Not a Bad QuarterMarco Arment, he of Instapaper, and of excellent commentary: If you sell a 99-cent app to just 1% of the people who bought new iOS devices in the 2012 holiday quarter alone, you’ll clear about $519,750. Not a bad quarter. Not bad indeed.Saturday, April 20, 2013
Why carriers should be more worried than Google about Facebook HomeEllis Hamburger, writing at The Verge: Mirroring its rollout of free VoIP calling for iOS, Facebook has updated its Messenger app for Android to allow free calling for users in the US. I think this is Facebook’s true …Friday, April 12, 2013
Dr. Kermit Gosnell: Philadelphia’s “Abortion” MonsterThe Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf quoting the grand jury report (PDF) on Philadelphia “abortion” monster Kermit Gosnell: The Department of State, through its Board of Medicine, licenses and oversees individual physicians… Almost …