Russia’s Roskomnadzor never used to be a powerful government thug. It used to be almost nothing at all. It was an afterthought — a regulatory agency created to cover things hardly anyone considered to be important. It was formed in 2008 and asked to oversee radio signals, telecom, and the Russian mail service. But then […]
We’ve noted repeatedly how the massive freak out over TikTok is kind of dumb and myopic, with folks singularly fixated on TikTok, but not the lax global adtech, data broker ecosystem we built that helped create it in the first place. We’ve also noted that most of the U.S. policy solutions for the supposed threat […]
We’ve talked a great deal about the impossibility of getting AI or other automated systems to properly police content for moderation purposes. While all kinds of content fits into this generally, we can pick on the topic of nudity or sexual content to demonstrate the point. We have a slew of posts on the topic, […]
It’s kinda weird how the GOP’s pure hatred and spite towards tech companies, and their desire to exact maximum punishment rather than make good policy, keeps blowing up bills that might otherwise pass. We’ve talked plenty about how Republicans have effectively torpedoed the big tech antitrust bill by insisting that it must include provisions that […]
India is still a democracy. Or so it pretends. But it’s becoming indistinguishable from autocratic regimes, like those found in some of its nearby neighbors, China, Turkey, and Pakistan. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has become indistinguishable from dozens of other abusive regimes run by dictators, all while trying to uphold the pretense of […]
You all remember the media shit-storm around kids from Covington Catholic High School and a run-in with folks in Washington DC that became a sort of Rorshach test demonstrating your political viewpoints based on how you viewed the encounter. The main character from Covington Catholic was Nick Sandmann, who sued a bunch of media orgs […]
This refurbished Acer Travelmate P446 laptop combines portability, performance, and value. Featuring a 14″ screen and an Intel i5 5200U 2.2GHz processor, combined with 8GB Ram and a 256GB Solid State Hard drive, it lacks little in the way of speed. Be it the home user, student, or business that needs top-notch performance at budget […]
Information wants to be free and it is never freer than when it traverses the internet. That’s why so many autocratic leaders strive to shut down this essential connection. It allows governments to control narrative and control citizens. Limiting their communication options means it will be the government’s view that prevails. Iran’s government has been […]
We just got done noting how the European Union, prompted by regional telecom monopolies, has been seriously pushing for a new tax on big tech to fund broadband. For decades, telecom giants have lustfully eyed big tech ad revenues. They’ve then convinced politicians that the best way to fix the “digital divide” (lack of broadband) […]
Tossing people into prison is throwing them away. They’re no longer real human beings. They’re just items being processed, moved through the system at whatever pace the system feels is appropriate. And once you’ve begun dehumanizing the people in your care, you can easily stop caring about them. A recent report [PDF] by the Government […]
It’s well known that textbook prices are generally high. That’s in part because academic publishers effectively have a monopoly when it comes to standard texts. Very often, these are texts that students simply must have as part of their course, which means they will pay even exorbitant prices. One such book was John McMurry’s Organic Chemistry. […]
When Mike wrote a post digging into some of the complex questions surrounding Cloudflare banning Kiwi Farms, there was plenty of backlash and disagreement — much of it thoughtful and well worth engaging with. Among the strongest critics was lawyer Mike Dunford, who composed a detailed Twitter thread that lead to a lengthy back-and-forth. This […]
While we’ve been criticizing some of Elon Musk’s actions and statements lately, we still stand by what we’ve said for years: that his view on patents is entirely, unquestionably, correct. In 2014, he pledged to open up all of Tesla’s patents. And when some investors insisted he didn’t really mean it, he clarified that he […]
Judges have plenty of power, especially local judges who can run their jurisdiction as they see fit without fearing too much pushback from higher courts, residents, or area law enforcement. Judge Steven Privette is the presiding circuit court judge in Howell County, Missouri, home to around 40,000 Missouri residents. Privette is currently facing some controversy […]
This refurbished Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is designed to be the perfect companion for your everyday life and/or professional career. Run your favorite programs on the powerful Windows 10 operating system with a high-resolution 12″ screen and 128GB of flash storage – ideal for businesses, students, or anyone who needs quick access to files. With […]
I’ve written a few times lately about the overreaction many people seem to have to claims that “cancel culture” is a “threat to free speech.” Obviously, there are some examples of people overreacting to speech they dislike, but more often than not, the claims of “cancel culture” are really assholes upset that they’re being held […]
Last year, Apple received ample coverage about how the company was making privacy easier for its customers by introducing a new, simple, tracking opt-out button for users as part of an iOS 14.5 update. Apple marketing and press reports heavily hyped the App Tracking Transparency system, which purportedly gave consumers control of which apps were able to […]
This is truly strange. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals somehow decided it was a good idea to redact its decision finding (partially) in favor of a person whose rights were violated by DC Metro police officers. What could have been a straightforward recognition that cops exceeded their boundaries was, at least temporarily, presented misleadingly, […]
While technologies like low orbit satellite can help shore up broadband access, they come with their own additional challenges. One being that services like Space X’s Starlink have cause potentially unavoidable light pollution, harming scientific research. The other being the exponential growth in space detritus, aka space junk, that will make space navigation increasingly difficult. […]
If you don’t like people making “People’s Republic of California” jokes, maybe don’t do stuff like this: The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative body for the city, voted 7-4 to test Mayor London Breed’s surveillance camera proposal, which will take effect in 30 days and sunset in 15 months. Under the policy, the San Francisco Police Department […]
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