No-knock warrants remain under fire as they continue to needlessly increase the death toll of residents who often have no idea who’s violently entering their home and, therefore, respond in unpredictable ways. Supposedly obtained to increase officer safety, these warrants often seem like a handy way to put officers in “fear for your safety” mode, […]
The Fifth Circuit is often the worst circuit when it comes to protecting constitutional rights. Every so often, it will make the right call, but most often it’s willing to let the government expand its power at the expense of the citizens it’s supposed to be serving. It does this often enough even the Supreme […]
Honestly, the only thing one can say about the whole Elon Musk buying Twitter situation is that you should expect the unexpected to happen. Nothing about this deal has been normal, even though some moves (like Musk coming up with laughably ridiculous pretextual excuses to try to get out of the deal) were telegraphed way […]
Jamaicans are being asked to fund futility with their tax dollars. Radio still exists, but it’s nowhere near as powerful or relevant as it was three or four decades ago. A ban like this doesn’t make sense for several reasons, but the most obvious reason is that it will only “protect” people who listen to […]
The Complete 2022 Microsoft Office Master Class Bundle has 14 courses to help you learn all you need to know about MS Office products to help boost your productivity. Courses cover SharePoint, Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, Teams, and more. The bundle is on sale for $75. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. […]
Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is likely to close within a week. The deadline before the Court of Chancery wakes back up is October 28th, which is rapidly approaching. I’ve discussed in the past ways in which I think Musk could actually be good for Twitter, but it requires having a pretty basic understanding […]
While the last decade hasn’t been what you’d call great for consumer rights in the U.S. (especially in sectors like telecom), one bright spot has been the mainstreaming of “right to repair” standards. What began as some nerdy fringe policy activism among those eager to repair their own tractors, has very quickly become a mainstream […]
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are one of the most fascinating things to emerge from the crypto space. While everyone was going crazy over NFTs, almost all of the more interesting things were happening in the DAO space. DAOs are something of an experiment in being able to form new kinds of organizations quickly in non-traditional […]
Once again, we need good anti-SLAPP laws in every state and a strong federal anti-SLAPP law. It’s the best defense against vexatious, censorial lawsuits. Reveal News from the Center for Investigative Reporting does some really good reporting, with a focus on big, important issues. Reveal wrote a series of articles about the non-profit Planet Aid. […]
It’s that time of the year again. Time for cops to start up their periodic whining about not being liked as much as they thought they were — something that happens any time stats show a crime spike. The FBI has released its admittedly incomplete national compilation of 2021 crime statistics. “Admittedly incomplete,” because the […]
Back in May, it seemed fairly obvious how all of this was going to go down. Following on the horrific mass murder carried out at a supermarket in Buffalo, we saw NY’s top politicians all agree that the real blame… should fall on the internet and Section 230. It had quickly become clear that NY’s […]
The all-new Magic Trackpad 2 is a faster, more responsive trackpad for your Mac. The built-in battery and four force sensors underneath the trackpad surface allow you to click anywhere, and detect subtle differences in the amount of pressure you apply, bringing increased functionality to your fingertips. Magic Trackpad 2 also features an edge-to-edge glass […]
We’ve all seen how immigration agencies (but especially ICE) shifted away from enforcement that mattered (removing the worst of worst) to engaging in nothing more than as much removal as possible under Trump. There’s a new Commander-in-Chief in town, but that doesn’t mean ICE is just going to stop being routinely terrible. But this isn’t […]
Former New York Times reporter Ben Smith and friends have launched a new media company named Semafor on the back of $25 million in donations. You might recall that one of the organization’s launch events didn’t go particularly well: a “trust in news” event that somehow didn’t see the problem with platforming and amplifying millionaire propagandist Tucker Carlson […]
J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” is one of the best-known and best-loved modern works of literature, not least thanks to Peter Jackson’s films based on the cycle. Given that popularity, it’s no surprise that there was interest in creating adaptations of other Tolkien works. The result is “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings […]
Law enforcement officers have plenty of unfettered access to expansive databases containing plenty of personal information. This access is instrumental to law enforcement work, including ongoing investigations, attempts to locate wanted criminals, and the routine minutia of validating drivers licenses and registration. The problem is there’s so little oversight of officers’ use of these databases. […]
Do you remember all the nonsense from earlier this year, in which executives from the Republicans’ favorite spamming operation misread a study about how various email providers handled political mailings and absolutely flipped out? The study didn’t say what they claimed it said: that Google was nefariously sending GOP emails to spam filters. It showed […]
Emoji Co. GmbH has registered trademarks in the dictionary word “Emoji.” They mostly are a licensing organization, and their registrations are in a wide range of classes: “from articles of clothing and snacks to ‘orthopaedic foot cushions’ and ‘[p]atient safety restraints.’” (Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen Emojico-branded patient safety restraints). Indeed, the court […]
The Chinese government is being weird again. Most of this weirdness springs naturally(?) from its desire to suppress dissent and control the narrative. That desire sometimes leads to bizarre outcomes, like the brief banning of the letter “N” on social media platform Weibo. The government’s concerns were related to online displeasure with Xi Jinping’s moves […]
Magic Mouse is wireless and rechargeable, with an optimized foot design that lets it glide smoothly across your desk. The Multi-Touch surface allows you to perform simple gestures such as swiping between web pages and scrolling through documents. The rechargeable battery will power your Magic Mouse for about a month or more between charges. It’s […]
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