E-Vote Still Flawed, Experts Say: "William Arbaugh, a University of Maryland assistant professor of computer science who participated in the test, graded the system an 'F,' 'with the possibility of raising it to a 'C' with extra credit -- that is, if they follow the recommendations we gave them.' "

They're beinning to do realistic testing, but they can't agree on what the dismal results really mean. This test addressed the systems as a whole after an earlier test where SAIC evaluated the software and proposed a number of changes. The changes had not been made to the systems being evaluated, and other previous recommendations had not yet been implemented. So a number of things that were found are being discounted as old news already addressed. No explanation why the second round of tests didn't include the remediation recommended in the first round, though. Diebold insists all is wonderful, and the state thinks they just need to stick some tape over the locks.

See You on the Darknet - Why we don't really want Internet security. : "Totalitarian governments (you know, like the one in 1984) will clamp down on the Net by instituting a digital Mark of the Beast, a personally assigned crypto-certificate that tags every online transaction, letting authorities track exactly who did what, where, and when. But Walker also argues that the rest of us (the ones who aren't yet peons in Orwellian regimes) will voluntarily sign up for similar surveillance when the certificate system is marketed to us as a cure for spam, fraud, and other Internet annoyances. He's right that we'll be sold this stuff. The question is, will we buy it?"

A better question is whether we'll be given a choice. For most, the implications will never be explained, and opt-out options will seldom be presented. When they are, they'll usually take the form of "to use this program, you must enable this feature." The biggest implication is that there will be more freedom for those who understand their rights and technology, and less freedom for sheep and idiots. We are, however, a nation of sheep and idiots.

Now, These Commercials: "'We're not concerned about getting new members,' Short said of the campaign. 'We're making sure the people we're serving aren't interested in getting anybody else.'"

That's Len Short, AOL's executive vice president of Brand Marketing. AOL now takes a page from Corel -- don't attract new customers, but try to keep your existing customers deluded into staying. When you stop trying to grow your business, you're in decline. Period. If you're already going over the cliff, why not try to fly?

Indians pitcher: Gay porn video was mistake: "Kazuhito Tadano never got a second chance in Japan, where the pitcher was shunned by pro baseball teams after he appeared in a gay pornographic video. However, the Cleveland Indians have accepted Tadano, who may make their club this season."

At the same time Ohio is about to outlaw gay marriage, the Indians are out recruiting gay porn stars for their baseball team. Actually, while he confirms his appearance in a gay porn video, he insists he's not gay. I guess we'll have to wait for the highlight reel.

Flower Power Takes on Land Mines: "The genetically modified weed has been coded to change color when its roots come in contact with nitrogen dioxide evaporating from explosives buried in soil. "

Ok, so it's really Thale Cress, but my first thought was "Poppies, Poppies, Poppies." As Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, it just seems amusing to think of combining this with their number one cash crop. Could carpet bombing give way to carpet seeding? If so, could super-accurate Predator-style drones target the red-flowered cress plants?

Students disciplined for posters on King Day: "A small group of Westside High School students plastered the school Monday with posters advocating that a white student from South Africa receive the 'Distinguished African American Student Award' next year. "

In a school with fewer than 70 blacks out of 1,843 students, he may have been the most qualified candidate. Another example of racism in reverse -- it's OK to single out a black student for an award because they're black, but try recognizing a white guy who's more african than they are, and all hell breaks loose.

Gay Marriage Poll Gets Annulled: "'We're very concerned that the traditional state of marriage is under threat in our country by homosexual activists,' said AFA representative Buddy Smith. 'It just so happens that homosexual activist groups around the country got a hold of the poll -- it was forwarded to them -- and they decided to have a little fun, and turn their organizations around the country (onto) the poll to try to cause it to represent something other than what we wanted it to. And so far, they succeeded with that.' "

So, they post a poll on the Internet, expecting that only righteous homophobes will vote, and when they find that the public doesn't share their view, they blame "homosexual activists." Obviously, everyone who understands that the separation of church and state will eventually force the courts to force the state to get out of the "sanctification" business is a homosexual activist. If you want to save marriage, or the "sanctity" of marriage, you need to get the government out of the marriage business. If you let the churches sanctify what they want, and let the government stop discriminating in which relationships they recognize, you'll save the sanctity of marriage. If not, the courts will eventually force the government to recognize gay marriages. Of course, you'll also find churches that sanctify gay marriages, whether the state does or not.

Nicked for doing 406mph: "The Peugeot 406 Sport has a top speed of 129mph. But when he saw the letter it confirmed that he had been exceeding the 60mph limit in Runcorn, Cheshire at 406mph."

Despite the impossible cited speed, they're still moving to prosecute, applying to magistrates for a summons. Here in DC, they ended up tossing out thousands of traffic camera tickets when the cameras were found to be miscalibrated, off by as much as 10-15 mph. No explanation for how the UK system can still be enforced when it appears to be off by about 300 mph if not more.

It should be noted that the British hold the world land speed record, although it was set in a jet-powered car in the Black Rock Desert, not in a Peugeot 406 Sport in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Microsoft backpedals on MikeRoweSoft threats: "Microsoft has admitted it took things 'too seriously' when its lawyers threatened a 17-year-old student called Mike Rowe over his domain name.

"Microsoft has admitted it may have made a mistake in threatening Mike Rowe for using his website, mikerowesoft.com."

The crux of the biscuit appears to be that, insulted by their $10 offer to buy the domain (refunding his "out of pocket expenses" consisting solely of the domain registration fee), he made an equally irrational counter-offer. Microsoft's lawyers immediately asserted that this demonstrated his intention to offer the domain for sale for a profit. That's a common lawyer trick, but it appears to have backfired this time.

Craving brain food, mad cow or no: "Cecelia Coan of Evansville, Ind., looks over the deep-fried cow brain sandwich she ordered to go at the Hilltop Inn in Evansville, Ind. The brains, battered with egg, seasoning and flour, puff up when cooked and trace back to a time when southern Indiana newcomers from Germany and Holland were frugal with their slaughtered cattle."

How to Deconstruct Almost Anything: "The essential paradigm of cyberspace is creating partially situated identities out of actual or potential social reality in terms of canonical forms of human contact, thus renormalizing the phenomenology of narrative space and requiring the naturalization of the intersubjective cognitive strategy, and thereby resolving the dialectics of metaphorical thoughts, each problematic to the other, collectively redefining and reifying the paradigm of the parable of the model of the metaphor."

As an aside, "The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true."

OK, so I'm teasing the most convoluted part. The article goes on to actually explain the literary style of deconstruction in simple terms, separating the style from the frequent lack of substance. Now I understand the objections to deconstruction -- I had been confusing the simple, practical method of "parsing the language" from the complex and slightly deranged literary metaphysics exercise.

MSNBC - What Party Elders Overlook in Dean: "Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, himself a past Democratic Presidential candidate who recently endorsed Dean, has figured out what party insiders haven't. With turnout below 50% in Presidential elections, millions of potential voters are up for grabs. It's the Democratic Party that has the best chance to win them over. But without that infusion of new blood, the party will be trapped like a hamster on treadmill, frantically running in place to hang on to those seniors, minorities, and women who form the old party base.

"Yes, Dean may be the riskiest of the Democratic hopefuls. But he also offers the party its best chance of breaking through the red state/blue state, 50/50 split in the popular vote that has thrown modern-day Presidential elections into gridlock. "

I've been saying since 2000 that what the Democrats need is a charismatic firebrand populist who is willing to return to core Democratic values, speak his mind and take positions even if they are at odds with the polls and discard the strategy of "triangulation", and re-invigorate the party witn an influx of new (young) voters. In Vermont, 80% of the voters polled were against civil unions when Dean signed the measure, yet Dean ran his re-election campaign on the issue and won. If he can sell the message in the Bible Belt that the only way to save the religious institution of marriage is to institute the civil instituion of civil unions -- the whole separation-of-church-and-state issue -- he may be able to persuade many religious moderates to support him. If he can convince religious moderates that civil unions will guarantee religious freedom, he can splinter the Republican religious right. And win? Maybe -- call it a bank shot.

Carnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening System: "To improve the efficiency of airport security screening, the FAA deployed the Computer Assisted Passenger Screening system (CAPS) in 1999. CAPS attempts to identify potential terrorists through the use of profiles so that security personnel can focus the bulk of their attention on high-risk individuals. In this paper, we show that since CAPS uses profiles to select passengers for increased scrutiny, it is actually less secure than systems that employ random searches. In particular, we present an algorithm called Carnival Booth that demonstrates how a terrorist cell can defeat the CAPS system. Using a combination of statistical analysis and computer simulation, we evaluate the efficacy of Carnival Booth and illustrate that CAPS is an ineffective security measure. Based on these findings, we argue that CAPS should not be legally permissible since it does not satisfy court-interpreted exemptions to the Fourth Amendment. Finally, based both on our analysis of CAPS and historical case studies, we provide policy recommendations on how to improve air security."

It's sad when college students can knock holes in your security system before you deploy it, demonstrate how to game the system, and recommend something better. It's refreshing when the something better is simpler and less invasive and presents no new privacy concerns. It's maddening to know that common sense and civil liberties will be trounced by clueless polititians anyway.

McCormick & Schmick condom girl previously sued Taco Bell over spilt coffee: "The California woman who sued a restaurant after allegedly finding a condom in her chowder agreed yesterday to a confidential settlement of her legal claim. Amazingly, if Laila Sultan is to be believed, the condom episode was the second time she was forced to sue over an injurious incident at a chain restaurant. In December 1996, Sultan sued a Long Beach Taco Bell after she was burned by some spilled coffee (Sultan claimed her tray was bumped into by some rambunctious young customers). A Taco Bell lawyer told TSG that Sultan's claim was 'a b.s. case,' but that the fast food firm settled the matter for about $2000 to avoid hefty legal fees. Before settling in the condom case, a lawyer for McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurant ridiculed Sultan's claim, saying there was 'absolutely no evidence to suggest the restaurant was the source of the condom' found in her grub in February 2002. Along with the restaurant lawsuits, Sultan's tort history includes two other lawsuits, both of which she filed after allegedly being injured in auto mishaps. Below you'll find Sultan's Taco Bell lawsuit. (5 pages) "

Dell in front line of War on Terror™: "Being an honest terrorist organisation, we frankly stated that the PDA was for export to Chad (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Syria being unavailable as options), that the intended use was government/military and that the product would indeed be used in connection with weapons of mass destruction. "

Of course, it then invited them to pay and offered immediate shipment. They theorize "Of course, it's likely that Dell's cunning plan involves taking the credit card payment for intelligence-gathering purposes and then sending in the helicopter gunships."

Wait a minute -- Dell has helicopter gunships?

New system no easy touch for 134 voters in Broward: "Bogdanoff had a ready explanation for the mystery. She theorized that some of the people who cast nonvotes were among the county's true-blue Democrats who were appalled to find a ballot with only Republicans.

''That would make a heck of a lot of sense if you were looking for a Democrat on the ballot,'' she said."

It may be a valid explanation, but we'll never know, because the system produces no independant audit trail. Why is it that when these things happen, they always seem to break in favor of the same party? Also, why was only one party represented?

Treasury breaks word on e-mail anonymity : "Jim Harper, editor of the Privacilla.org privacy advocacy site, says 'Treasury's privacy promise included an important unwritten caveat: 'Unless keeping this promise is inconvenient.'' "

Sue them for violating their posted privacy policy, and fine them for each element improperly disclosed. The bastards.

Citing 'security concerns,' Tom Ridge pulls the plug on 'Yes, Dear': "Countering critics who have charged that the cancellation of 'Yes, Dear' might be an overreaction on the government's part, Mr. Ridge said, 'Whether or not 'Yes, Dear' was going to be used as part of a plot to destroy the world, I think we can all agree that we're better off without it.'"

"Mr. Ridge added that, effective Monday, CBS would replace "Yes, Dear" with repeated airings of Ed Bradley's "60 Minutes" interview with Michael Jackson "until the end of time."

Reuters AlertNet - German government builds 225,000 euro frog tunnel: "Germany's cash-strapped government is paying 225,000 euros ($285,200) to build a tunnel to help frogs avoid the perils of a busy road, officials said on Monday.

"Germany's government is expected to breach European Union budget deficit limits for a third year in a row in 2004."

Slate reads another Dean book so you don't have to.: "Dean's Kentucky campaign begins poorly: Letters received by Dean after he signed Vermont's civil-unions bill: 'I was really sorry to read where you have allowed the passage of a bill recognizing queers to marry,' wrote someone from Kentucky, 'who vowed never to vacation in Vermont again.' 'I have been a Democrat all my life, but now that the Democrats are turning into queers, I am switching to the Republican Party. I hope you and all your queer buddies rot in hell.'

"Another said, 'Dean Is a Faggot Lover. All Homosexuals, Go to Vermont, Dean Loves You. All Normal People, Stay Away From Vermont. A State Full Of Perverts—Run By Perverts. Boycott Fag Run Vermont.' On one fund-raising walk after the bill-signing, an elderly woman walked up to Dean and said, 'You fucking, queer-loving son of a bitch.'"

Unfortunately, we aren't told who was really living in Howard Dean's room at Yale -- Brother Jim Dean (who now works for the campaign) describes his brother's 1971 graduation from Yale: "We get to Howard's room, and he isn't there, but there are a bunch of people apparently living there who aren't Yale students but are kind of street people with tattoos and all."

What You Can't Say: "You have to take that extra step if you want to think clearly. But it's harder, because now you're working against social customs instead of with them. Everyone encourages you to grow up to the point where you can discount your own bad moods. Few encourage you to continue to the point where you can discount society's bad moods."

"(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)"

Despite Best Efforts, Doughnut Makers Must Fry, Fry Again: "In the summer of 1997, the FDA, armed with search warrants, raided Mr. Ligon's office and packaging facilities in Kentucky and Illinois, seizing 18,720 doughnuts, along with cinnamon rolls and labels. Mr. Ligon shut down the business, but the FDA pursued a criminal case."

Doughnut fraud is serious, and shall incur the full weight of law enforcement. I wonder how long the doughnuts lasted in the evidence room?

TSA Chief At Dulles Is Charged With DWI: "On a night considered at particular risk of terrorism, with extraordinary security actions in place across the country, Brady was supposed to be at his airport post until 2 a.m. TSA spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said that Brady should have been participating in a security exercise to ensure the safety of air travelers at that hour."

Thank you. I feel safer now.

'Queer Eye' Questions Code Orange: "But even as he attacked Ridge’s choice of orange, Kressley did not recommend that the government step back down to a yellow alert, pronouncing that color “yucky beyond Thunderdome.” For his part, Kressley unveiled a new “Queer Eye” terror alert chart, featuring such colors as raspberry sherbet, scarlet and blizzard."

White, off white, antique white, ivory, cream.

Wired News: Judge Bars Forced Anthrax Shots: "The Pentagon must stop forcing servicemen and women to take the anthrax vaccination against their will, unless President Bush signs a special order, a judge ruled Monday."

I will encourage him to sign such an order. The military is one of the very few arenas where I would recommend forced vaccination. It isn't so much using our servicemembers as guinea pigs, it's more a matter of protecting them (and their ability to successfully complete their mission) from agents that are much more likely to be encountered in an operational military setting than in civilian life. Maybe it's a matter of the required waiver never having been issued by President Clinton, but it worries me when the judiciary actively impedes national defense.

Texas housewife busted for hawking erotic toys / Sales rep for Brisbane firm sold vibrator to undercover agents: "Joanne Webb, a former fifth-grade teacher and mother of three, was in a county court in Cleburne, Texas, on Monday to answer obscenity charges for selling the vibrator to undercover narcotics officers posing as a dysfunctional married couple in search of a sex aid.

"Webb, a saleswoman for Passion Parties of Brisbane, faces a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted."

As a result, her husband had a nervous breakdown, and she's left wondering. "We have a real problem with drugs in our schools,'' she said, "and they're using our narcotics officers to entrap me for selling a vibrator.''

Columbine spoof online way out of line: "Using that logic, I could create a website pretending I have a target-shooting business with cutout targets that resemble naked, rail-thin Jews as part of a re-enactment of the Holocaust.

"Or I could dream up a re-enactment of a slave ship heading to America. For only $25 you can enter this makeshift vessel and feel what it's like to get whipped and beaten while chained and unable to defend yourself."

Today's example of a reporter who doesn't get it. While demanding accountability from a tasteless spoof site, she gives many inches of free publicity including a link, but fails to follow up on the falsified domain registration. She finishes by inciting hack attacks against the site, without realizing she already has enough information to revoke the domain registration. Why is a journalist whining about tastelessness on the 'net when her point is accountability, and why is she advocating illegal action when she has documented facts that provide a legal means? And why does she feel action must be taken, rather than simply reporting facts?

California blocks sales of 'Glofish' pets - Dec. 4, 2003: "'For me it's a question of values, it's not a question of science,' said commissioner Sam Schuchat. 'I think selling genetically modified fish as pets is wrong.' "

Which is unfortunate, since his job is to enforce the law. Worse, he went on to say "To me, this seems like an abuse of the power we have over life, and I'm not prepared to go there today." The law in question was meant to prevent commercial fisheries from threatening local species should GM food crop fish be released into the wild. The pet store fish will not survive in the wild, and cannot reproduce.

Teacher to 1st-graders: Santa is fake: "'How do you destroy a 6-year-old like that?' said Pam Sturt, whose son Bradley is in D.J.'s class."

Delusion is not the same as innocence. I'd ask the same question of the parents who told the kid lies. Of course, it's easier to blame a teacher for telling the truth. You shouldn't blame the DJ either.

Experts voice doubts about voting machines: "As Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller considers which electronic voting machines to buy for the state, two national computer experts said their tests show the devices are unreliable and should not be bought until questions about security and accuracy can be answered.

"But the manufacturers disagree, and Heller said he plans to enlist the expertise of the Nevada Gaming Control Board to ensure the machines are secure and accurate."

That can't be bad. The controls which the Nevada Gaming Control Board places on slot machines dwarf the controls that most states have placed on electronic voting systems. They have substantial enforcement experience, too.

Ohio Halts E-Voting Machines: "COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state's top elections official said Tuesday that security problems found in new touch-screen voting systems mean they won't be in place statewide in time for the November 2004 presidential election."

That would be Ohio's Secretary of State. Maryland delayed, then went forward under pressure from the Republican governor. Diebold is responding that the same mitigation they used in Maryland will satisfy Ohio. I presume that means having the Republican governor of Ohio (Bob Taft) apply pressure.

Also worth noting (again) is that Diebold Election Systems is headquartered in Ohio, and it's president is a major Republican fundraiser who is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Army Quietly Opens JetBlue Probe: "The Army's investigation is likely the third federal inquiry into possible violations of law stemming from JetBlue's handing over almost 5 million passenger records -- in violation of its own privacy policy -- to a defense contractor. That contractor, Torch Concepts, then augmented that data with Social Security numbers and other personal data which it bought, with JetBlue's permission, from data giant Acxiom."

Hopefully, the story will get some traction this time 'round. An update to an earlier post. Probably smoke and mirrors...

Master/Slave: "Another example of this phenomenon surfaced recently in reference to 'master/slave,' a term commonly used in computing (and related industries) to describe the unidirectional control of one device or process by another. Equipment vendors who do business with Los Angeles County received a message in November 2003 from the county's Internal Services Department (ISD) informing them that 'based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County,' labeling or describing equipment with the term 'master/slave' is no longer acceptable: "

Accompanying the (verified) memorandum is a nice article on the collision between linguistics and "political correctness run amok."

Interracial Interactions are Cognitively Demanding: "A new Dartmouth study reveals that interracial contact has a profound impact on a person's attention and performance. The researchers found new evidence using brain imaging that white individuals attempt to control racial bias when exposed to black individuals, and that this act of suppressing bias exhausts mental resources."

As El Reg puts it, "As for us, we reckon there's a bit of a chicken/egg debate to be had here: does racism make you stupid, or are racists thick to begin with?" Yes.

Can America trust electronic voting?: "What has resulted is a set of uncritical mandates heavily weighted in favor of the local purchase of untested and unreliable electronic voting systems, supported by large federal subsidies of your tax dollars -- or rather borrowed dollars that future taxpayers will eventually have to pay off, with interest.

Election officials nationwide failed to demand that HAVA include meaningful regulation of voting-system manufacturers and vendors. Congressional staff were apparently persuaded that the mere application of electronic technology would be sufficient to protect the security of the right to vote, and the integrity of elections.
But this is at best a willing suspension of disbelief, a confusion of the difference between hope for the future, and money in the bank."

Written by the Yolo County clerk/recorder and a professor of law at UC Davis. We're starting to see more of these articles from people who do know what they're talking about. They all point towards extreme caution, and most question motives.

The Implications Of Food Dye On Poop Color: "The year was 1996. I was a biochem major at St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont. I had consumed copious quantities of Purplesaurus Rex Kool-aid in a one night time frame. A few hours later, I pooped. It was green. Bright green. I was fascinated, and called as many of my floor-mates as would come into the stall to marvel at the miracle of the 'not brown, not bloody shit'. "

Fine, so we know how to make green. Where's the rest of the spectrum?

Uranium Pebbles May Light the Way: "To developers, the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor design promises to deliver an 'African Renaissance' -- a rebirth of nuclear energy. The PBMR is safer, cleaner, smaller and more affordable than conventional nuclear power plants, says Tom Ferreira, spokesman for the PBMR consortium. In fact, proponents insist that the reactor's design features make it 'meltdown-proof' and 'walk-away safe.' "

Nice to see PBMR getting some press. This is a very promising technology, as much for its benefit as for its waste storage and disposal approach. The reactor is designed to operate over a 40-year life cycle, with all wastes stored on site for an additional 40 years thereafter. Back to background 80 years after starting. It is also small and modular, so multiple plants would be a common approach in larger scale implementations.

Electronic Voting Debacle: "Security pros also need to work to change the perceptions of public officials. Unfortunately, many of them are ignorant about security, some willfully so ('In response to the Hopkins report [by Avi Rubin], Linda H. Lamone, the state election administrator, said yesterday that Maryland's experience in the 2002 election gave her 'absolute confidence' in the Diebold touch-screen system'). Couple that with a back-against-the-wall defensiveness, and you get statements like this, made by Penelope Bonsall, director of the Office of Election Administration at the Federal Election Commission: 'The computer scientists are saying, 'The machinery you vote on is inaccurate and could be threatened; therefore, don't go. Your vote doesn't mean anything.'' No, Ms. Bonsall, that is most definitely not what security experts are saying. But believing so does help solidify your refusal to look at their concerns, doesn't it?"

Another grand roll-up with links-o-plenty.

Strip search that spares your blushes: "Last year a powerful scanner which can detect plastic explosives and illicit drugs was installed and tested at London’s Gatwick Airport as part of a pilot programme.

"But the scanner has been sitting idle because its remarkable technology allows it to use a special wavelength of light literally to see through clothing. This, for obvious reasons, infringes civil liberties and means the machine cannot be used."

So, first we spend a lot of money on a machine that lets us see people naked, then we spend lots more money making it come up with a dummy image so we don't. Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if we all flew Naked Air.

Movie moguls in piracy quandary: "'As an industry, we are going to have to adjust. The tide is coming in whether we want it to or not,' says Sony America Chairman Howard Stringer. 'We've got to redefine our relationship with our customers and recognize that it's a two-way dialogue. We can't sit back and close our eyes for five years, the way the record business did before they began to deal with new technology.'"

At least some among them get it. Not so others, including Jack Valenti, their spokesweasel.

Opening Doors With the DMCA: "A universal garage door opener is not in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, even if used on a system made by another company, a U.S. District Court ruled Thursday. "

That's the second of the highest profile red herrings. This brings it back to mostly the entertainment industry (RIAA/MPAA) abusing a bad law.

U.S. takes hard line on Greenpeace: "But 15 months after the APL Jade incident, the U.S. Justice Department in Florida’s Southern District dramatically upped the ante. Drawing on an 1872 law, it filed criminal charges against Greenpeace USA for boarding a ship before its arrival in port, and with conspiracy to do so — in a case scheduled to be heard in December."

UPDATE: Kari Huus kindly provided the text of the code and the case history from its last use in 1890:

Title 18, Sec. 2279. - Boarding vessels before arrival

Whoever, not being in the United States service, and not being duly authorized by law for the purpose, goes on board any vessel about to arrive at the place of her destination, before her actual arrival, and before she has been completely moored, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

The master of such vessel may take any such person into custody, and deliver him up forthwith to any law enforcement officer, to be by him taken before any committing magistrate, to be dealt with according to law

Here is an explanation of the prohibition, from a decision on United States v. Sullivan, in 1890:

The evil which this section is intended to prevent and remedy is apparent, and in this district notorious. For instance, lawless persons, in the interest or employ of what may be called "sailor mongers," get on board vessels bound for Portland as soon as they get in the Columbia river, and by the help of intoxicants, and the use of other means, often savoring of violence, get the crews ashore, and leave the vessel without help to manage or care for her. The sailor thereby loses the wages of the voyage, and is dependent on the boarding house for the necessaries of life, where he is kept, until sold by his captors to an outgoing vessel, at an enormous price.

Despite precedent to the contrary, this looks like an appropriate charge. Boarding a vessel is a major offense, much more than harassment or interference with navigation. When I was in the Navy, we occasionally worried about having to scuttle Greenpeace craft or repel boarders by force. We would have had few choices -- rules of engagement tied our hands. In this case, it is also interesting that the second clause gives the captain rights to detain -- that's much more in line with what we've come to expect from Ashcroft, but I'm not sure it's relevant in this application.

You Gotta Stop, Smell the Roses: "During the past two weeks and 1,212.5 miles down Route 1, we've met witches and whirlpool survivors, smugglers, sailors and spies. We've experienced snow and ice (Caribou, Maine), torrential rains (Portland, Maine), mega-fog (all of Rhode Island), major mugginess (Alexandria, Virginia), one small tornado (Poolesville, Maryland) and a really swell total lunar eclipse."

BOGUS ALERT: If they're travelling Route 1, and they're in Poolesville, MD, they've tumbled into an alternate universe. Poolesville is west of Route 1 by over 30 miles. Poolesville, VA, is even further off in the other direction. Hooray for fact checking.

Uncensored Gore: The take-no-prisoners social critic skewers Bush, Ashcroft and the whole damn lot of us for letting despots rule: "Do you not think of Bush and Ashcroft as Americans?

"I think of them as an alien army. They have managed to take over everything, and quite in the open. We have a deranged president. We have despotism. We have no due process."

Vidal, that is. The original writer of Caligula discusses the founding fathers, the DMCA, Enron, the PATRIOT act, Iraq, and electronic voting in a wide-ranging interview.

Diebold with a Vengance: Secrets, lies, and electronic voting: "Napsterized memos are perhaps the least of Diebold's problems. Allegations have surfaced that upgrades to voting software used in the most recent California elections had not been independently certified, a violation of state law. The more conspiratorially minded have even attributed surprising results in hotly contested 2002 congressional races to e-chicanery on the 's part. That suspicion is tied in no small way to the fact that Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell is a major GOP fundraiser who told Buckeye State Republicans in an August fundraising letter that he was 'committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.' "

A nice roll-up, with links-o-plenty.

Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry: "Chris Hoofnagle, associated director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, argues that a system requiring postal identity cards or secure stamps would sacrifice anonymity for little gain in security, since anyone who could acquire anthrax would be clever enough to filch a few stamps. "

"Those that would sacrifice essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security." -- Ben Franklin

Vote count marred by computer woes: "A lengthy collaboration between the county's information technology director and advisers from the MicroVote software producer fixed the problem. But before that, computer readings of stored voting machine data showed far more votes than registered voters."

You have to appreciate the extensive detail regarding the problem and the supposed "fix". Or the complete lack thereof. Note that this is the third e-vote vendor to deliver an irrational overvote.

E-Vote Firm's Bill Comes Due: "Starting in 2004, the state will also conduct random audits of voting systems to ensure that all software and hardware is certified. And in the future, the state will require CEOs of vendors to affirm under penalty of perjury that the company will not change systems without obtaining written approval from the secretary of state. Failure to do so may result in de-certification and possible criminal charges, Kyle said."

So Diebold has to pay to have an independant audit confirm that they violated the law (as already separately stipulated), while several counties are left holding the bag with warehouses full of Diebold equipment awaiting deployment. Expect further waivers and wrangling, especially with the warehoused systems.

Beauty contest gives special award to Afghan contestant: "JUDGES ANNOUNCED that, for the first time, they were handing out a “beauty for a cause” prize. They awarded it to Samadzai for “symbolizing the newfound confidence, courage and spirit of today’s women” and “representing the victory of women’s rights and various social, personal and religious struggles.”"

Two things. First, as mentioned previously, she left Afghanistan in 1996 and has lived in the US since. Second, while it's nice to recognize those who overcome adversity, how meaningful is it in a beauty contest?

Phone uses finger as earpiece: "The user puts his finger into his ear for the vibrations to be picked up by the eardrum, which then transcribes them back into sound signals for the brain. "

Stick it in your ... ear.

Jason Salavon - Every Playboy Centerfold, The Decades: "The photographs in this suite are the result of mean averaging every Playboy centerfold foldout for the four decades beginning Jan. 1960 through Dec. 1999. This tracks, en masse, the evolution of this form of portraiture."

Very interesting. Don't expect nudity. Over time, the hair gets blonder, the waist gets thinner, the breasts get larger. But in the 70's, the legs were further apart...

Simpsons Plant Seeds of Invention: "Baur grafted a tomato plant onto tobacco roots, and voilà, he had a real, live tomacco plant. The two plants can successfully become one because they come from the same plant family, which also includes eggplant and the deadly nightshade. The tomacco even bore fruit, although Baur said he believes it's poisonous because it likely contains a lethal amount of nicotine. "

A follow-up to an earlier post with additional information.

Police to stop citing drivers who flash lights - Tuesday, 11/04/03: "Moore's decision came yesterday shortly after a Williamson County judge dismissed the city of Franklin's case against a man who flashed a warning and was charged and found guilty of interfering with a police officer's performance of duty. He appealed.

Judge Russ Heldman dismissed the city's ruling that Harlie ''Bill'' Walker, 75, violated a Franklin ordinance Aug. 14, when he flashed his lights at oncoming traffic to let drivers know there was a police car ahead."

An update to a story covered earlier. The appeals court made things right, and the police say they will change policy and obey the court. As it should be. As it should have been. Their mission is to keep people from speeding, not to profit from speeding tickets and charge those who interfere.

North Bay: Bolinas supports nature bid: "The measure, submitted by a woman who wears burlap and paints her face with chocolate, advises the Bolinas Community Public Utility District to adopt a policy defining the town as 'a socially acknowledged nature-loving town because to like to drink the water out of the lakes to like to eat the blueberries to like the bears is not hatred to hotels and motor boats. Dakar. Temporary and way to save life, skunks and foxes (airplanes to go over the ocean) and to make it beautiful.' "

To like burlap, to vote chocolate, to live in bushes, to drink the tree-huggters, is not hatred for tie-dye, pot-smoking, or Buddhism.

Calif. Halts E-Vote Certification: "Uncertified software may have been installed on electronic voting machines used in one California county, according to the secretary of state's office.

Marc Carrel, assistant secretary of state for policy and planning, told attendees Thursday at a panel on voting systems that California was halting the certification process for new voting machines manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. "

Add this to the problems reported earlier with the certification process in Riverside. "Diebold officials, who were attending the meeting, seemed surprised by the announcement and expressed displeasure to several panelists afterward that it had been introduced in a public forum. They were unavailable for comment." Well, unavailable for comment except to say they were pissed to be embarassed in public. Tough, they should be. Or worse.

Tomacco Becomes A Reality!: "Rob Baur, a huge Simpsons fan, grafted a tomato plant to a tobacco plant, grew it, and tonight he has proof from the lab that it worked. 'What we found was nicotine in the leaves'. said scientist Ray Grimsbo. The plant grew off the tobacco roots and sucked up the nicotine, just like Tomacco on The Simpsons. The lab hasn't tested if the actual tomato has nicotine in it yet, but they say it probably does. 'Generally in the fruit there is more material concentrated because that's what everything's going through to produce the fruit for the next generation. I would expect there would be more.' And that would make the real life tomacco plant very poisonous. Rob Baur says he grew the tomacco plant just for fun, just to see if it would really work. But what's next for him? 'I'll have to review my DVD's to see if there is more Simpsons science available.'"

For video reports from KPTV, go here.

Biniki: "Biniki is a butt bra. It supports and provides gentle curves that those behind you will appreciate."

The Diebold Memos' Smoking Gun -- Volusia County Memos Disclose Election 2000 Vote Fraud: "'If you strip away the partisan rancor over the 2000 election, you are left with the undeniable fact that a presidential candidate conceded the election to his opponent based on [results from] a second card that mysteriously appears, subtracts 16,022 votes, then just as mysteriously disappears.'"

Based on an analysis of the leaked memos (that Diebold is attempting to quash using the DMCA), there are some very obvious questions, like how a precinct with 600 voters could cast over 16,000 votes, or negate them. Note the Diebold references to "the boogie man may be reading our mail," "second shooter theory," and "grassy knoll."

kiss my bitter ass: "Howard Dean came into the restaurant where I wait tables in Burlington, Vermont. He was very laid-back, not high maintenence at all. He tipped well, 20%+, not too high, but that's okay because I don't think he is personally very rich and the fact he was so nice made up for it. Anyway, he acted like just a regular guy in Burlington, Vermont, very easy to wait on, no fuss. He definately didn' t expect to be treated any differently because he's running for President. I thought he was pretty cool. "

Should I be impressed because a bitter waitress speaks well of him, or cynical that the post is a plant by a hip PR flack poser?

The Goretti girls take 'flasher': "Call it 'Girls Gone Wild,' South Philly-style.

"Three former victims recognized the suspect - who had been preying on the girls since Sept. 14 - and chased him down. About 20 Goretti students soon followed and they managed to wrestle him to the ground until Philly cops arrived, police spokesman William Colarulo said last night."

Despite their behavior, the article insists on referring to them as victims. To my eye, they pretty much refused to be victims. You go girls.

Get PLAY: NU gets good vibrations: "I don't own a vibrator. But I think I might be the only girl who doesn't. "

She blames "Sex and the City" and feigns surprise, but I think we should take up a collection.

Cajun Turducken: "What's a turducken? It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. Plus lots of Cajun dressings and seasonings."

I discovered Turducken when I was looking for an antidote to Tofurkey.

Funkins - Carvable Pumpkins!: "Fun-Kins® are made of a low density, flame resistant, polyurethane foam. The consistency of the foam is similar to a real pumpkin shell.

"The foam is tinted orange inside and out to give your Fun-Kin® a real glow when lit."

Fake foam pumpkins. Whatever happened to "grows on trees"?

Copyright officials rule against Lexmark: "Lexmark International, the world's second-largest printer maker, had charged that SCC violated the act by making components for use in remanufactured laser printer toner cartridges. Among the components is a chip that mimics the behaviour of one made by Lexmark.

The ruling says that section 1201 of the DMCA allows aftermarket companies to develop software for the purpose of remanufacturing toner cartridges and printers."

Good. One problem fixed, many others remain. Toner cartridges down -- garage doors, the MPAA and the RIAA to go.

Hernando: Food robber takes all but the bread: "The gunman may have thought he was stealing Arby's night deposit when he made off with an employee's dinner."

Ahhh... the old "dine and dash", or is that dash and dine...?

Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go: "Kiefer Sutherland must be exhausted. Over the course of two days, his character on Fox’s “24,” counter-terrorism expert Jack Bauer, has experienced more heartbreak, death, loss and explosions than all the other people in Los Angeles combined. And he’s done it all without stopping to use the bathroom."

Well, not really. Jack was seen at a urinal in S2 while Mason struggled with radiation sickness. Time will tell whether S3 suffers from the same flaws as S1 or S2. Mandy and the cougar top my wish list for recurring characters...

Hollywood takes anti-piracy message to school: "But some copyright law experts aren't pleased that the MPAA is the only sponsor for such classroom discussions. They worry that the lesson plans don't address "fair use'' constitutional protections for digital copying for personal or educational use.

"This is really sounding like Soviet-style education. First they're indoctrinating the students and then having students indoctrinate their peers,'' said Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "The takeaway message has got to be more nuanced. Copyright is a complicated subject.''"

I do not like the idea of corporate interests getting access to students for one-sided propaganda campaigns. However, at $1 to reach 9 students, it's a real bargain for the MPAA. From the article, though, it appears the students are largely not buying it. Good.

Afghan beauty trades burka for bikini: "THE FIRST AFGHAN entrant in an international beauty contest for 30 years, and the first since the fall of the hard-line Islamic Taliban government in 2001, joined more than 50 other women at a posh hotel in the Philippine capital this week to fight it out for the Miss Earth title."

The only other Miss Afghanistan was Zohra Daoud, who joined the Miss Universe contest in 1972. That was 7 years before Vida Samadzai was born. Another vote for Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy.

White faces charges for asking minor for sex: "Reverend Stephen White, infamous for preaching against homosexuality and sexual promiscuity at Yale and other college campuses, now faces charges that he solicited sex from a teenage boy in a Philadelphia suburb."

Today's lesson in hyprocrisy. Fred Phelps, are you listening?

Judge rejects U.S. request to search for, delete classified records: "The Justice Department says it may renew an extraordinary request to let the FBI conduct a search-and-destroy mission on any computers harboring classified information about a 1980s case that temporarily became public in a lawsuit. A federal judge previously rejected the idea.

"The initial request from federal prosecutors in Sacramento, Calif., was considered highly unusual by legal experts because it did not specify which computers the government believed might contain the classified information or how agents would retrieve and destroy information already made public."

"U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. agreed with the government's request to remove the classified documents from the court file and substitute sanitized versions. But in his decision last week, Burrell rejected as "unsupported by authority" the government's broader request to seek out and delete any electronic copies that might have been downloaded onto others' computers before they were effectively sealed."

We won't say what, we won't say who, and we won't say where -- can we go now?

Thankfully, at least for now, you can see what all the fuss is over. The California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) has made the sealed documents available on their web site. Makes you wonder why no specifics were given, unless asking for a warrant against the California First Amendment Coalition was something they didn't want publicized. The two documents are available (for now) here and here.

Georgia runs from the MATRIX: "'The State of Georgia will not transfer any additional information to the company responsible for the MATRIX project,' said Governor Perdue. 'I have held serious concerns about the privacy issues involved with this project all along, and have decided it is in the best interest of the people of Georgia that our state have no further participation in the MATRIX pilot project.

'The criminal, prison, and sexual predator information previously submitted will remain part of the database. This information is relevant to the crime fighting purpose of the pilot project, but personal information of law-abiding citizens is not. I feel today's decision reflects a proper balance between fighting crime and respecting the right to privacy.' "

Cost was also cited as a reason for pulling out. At least they're doing the right thing, if partially for the wrong reason. The new strategy appears to be to shift the interdicted DARPA projects down to the state level under the auspices of a private contractor, Florida-based Seisint. Yes, you've heard that name before...

Rumsfeld memo on Iraq, Afghanistan: "It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere -- one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem."

Not to harp on the Rumsfeld thing, but here is the complete text of the memo referenced below. Fuel for the "shadow government" fire...

Election boils down to a culture war: "The culture war between the Red and Blue Nations has erupted again — big time — and will last until Election Day next year. Front lines are all over, from the Senate to the Pentagon to Florida to the Virginia suburbs where, at the Bush-Cheney ’04 headquarters, they are blunt about the shape of the battle. “The country’s split 50-50 again,” a top aide told me, “just as it was in 2000.” Translation: They can’t win re-election by wooing the (mostly coastal) Blue states, but only by firing up (mostly non-coastal) Reds."

To my eye, Howard Fineman presents some of the most lucid and insightful political reporting, and he does it in an extremely accessible way. Yes, we're still fighting the "culture wars", and we will be for years. Remember, there are no winners in war, except those making the weapons. Until we have a leader who insists on doing the right thing, not the politically expedient thing, we're screwed.

There's hope. Take Howard Dean (please). In Vermont, he signed civil unions legislation despite popular opinion running 70% against. When he ran for re-election, he ran on the issue, doing what many considered politically suicidal. He was able to convince a substantial majority to vote for him, saying that it was the right thing to do, and explaining that any other strategy would eventually legitimize gay marriage. If the state doesn't offer equal rights outside of marriage, the courts will inevitably sanction gay marriage. His approach allowed the religious issues to remain religious issues, while addressing the underlying civil rights issues. This is how you avoid the culture wars.

The price of liberty is tolerance. We are made stronger by our differences, by our tolerance of those different than we are, and by our acceptance that those with opposing views must be equally protected. We are made weaker by favoring special interests, yielding to partisan self-interest over what's good for the country, and by attempts to legislate morality.

Rumsfeld questions war on terrorism: "'Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror,' Rumsfeld wrote. 'Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?'

'It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror,' Rumsfeld wrote. 'An alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere -- one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.'

'The U.S. is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists,' Rumsfeld wrote. 'The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.' "

Let's review. We are fighting an open-ended war against an invisible enemy with no clearly defined way to tell if we are winning. Rumsfeld now openly admits that. His solution? To create a new "institution" that integrates several agencies to accomplish this. We've already pulled elements of too many agencies into Homeland Security, now Rumsfeld is suggesting that we set up a military equivalent.

When the "solution" is to cannibalize civilian agencies to create the Department of Homeland Security, then to cannibalize military agencies to create an equivalent -- people should be asking for a better definition of the problem. The "solution" resembles a coup as much as a rational response to terrorism. Few administrations have ever gone so far in establishing their own security apparatus, and if pursued, I believe the military agency Rumsfeld advocates would be unprecedented. With extremely limited legislative oversight, and secrecy laws that exclude most judicial oversight, it is appropriate to ask what other uses these agencies might have, beyond their stated purposes. bin Laden said that his true victory would be in America turning itself into a police state in reaction to terrorist attack -- is this not what we are witnessing?

Jeremiah Akin's observations about Riverside County's Logic & Accuracy testing: "I recently took part in the Riverside County Logic and Accuracy Testing Board that met on 9 September 2003. This board was put together to observe testing of the touchscreen voting system that Riverside County uses.

There were several problems I saw with the running of the test. Among them were:

-- People signed a form stating that they had witnessed the test and had verified the results, before the test was completed.

-- The test was run in a pre-election mode of the vote counting software. No test was run on the software while it was in the configuration that it would be in on election day.

-- The observation board was given a seriously misleading description of the make up of the voting system that Riverside County uses. Sequoia Voting Systems, the manufacturer of the touchscreen systems, also gives a very misleading description of their products on their website and in their brochures. "

Kudos to Peace and Freedom Party for getting someone who is technically qualified onto the Logic and Accuracy Testing Board. Boos to the board for rubber-stamping the system before a flawed testing procedure was even completed.

Links to the Salon interview and the full report (.pdf) fill in many additional details.

Man Stabs Lectern at Riverside Meeting: "Police arrested a man who pulled out a pocketknife when he appeared before the Riverside City Council on Tuesday night and stabbed the speaker's lectern to illustrate what he considered lax security at City Hall.

The incident appeared to unnerve council members, some of whom were wounded five years ago this month when a gunman walked into City Hall and opened fire. Seven people were injured in that shooting."

You'd think that after a shooting, they'd have improved security. Instead, they'll punish the citizen who points out that they're still vulnerable.

How do you handle people who are outraged at lax security, and demonstrate its shortcomings? There's a college student in court this week for sneaking prohibited items onto planes after warning the airlines and TSA that their security was ineffective and that he would demonstrate this. Sadly, he'll probably go to jail. Rather than improve the system, punish those who illustrate its weaknesses.

Hardware Analysis - How NOT to install computer hardware -: "Well, for the sake of these retailers as well as those having to buy these opened boxes, this article covers the basics of how NOT to install newly purchased hardware. Please give it a good read and take the advice to heart. And keep in mind that it is only fair to keep the hardware you break, don't return it because of your own mistake to not properly install it. Furthermore, use these instructions at your own risk, we take NO responsibility whatsoever and do take the above with a grain of salt, we consider ourselves among the above mentioned enthusiasts too."

Anyone who has worked in computer service should recognize most of these, especially if they've dealt with personal systems. They omit the common tricks of using liquids (including the convenient "cup holder" features", foreign objects, and debris. I like reversing all the fans, coating all the internals with spray adhesive, and setting it right behind my table saw -- produces a nice coating of sawdust on everything inside...

Caucasian Club founder decides to leave school: "'On one level, it is understandable that when white students see other students celebrating their cultures and participating in activities that recognize their backgrounds, like Cinco de Mayo or the Chinese New Year's Parade, those students might feel some degree of resentment. They wonder if they, too, have an ethnicity,' Noguera said. 'But almost everything else, though it's not named as a celebration of white people and white culture, is just that. Most of U.S. history glorifies the experience of individuals and groups of people who are white. That is the norm.' "

I've always wondered why it's acceptable to have minority clubs but not majority clubs. I've also wondered who'd show up for the "white" club -- enough to make me think it might not be such a good idea. But if you can found a Latino club without being a racist, why can't you found a caucasian club? The lesson is that overt advocacy of culture related to race is only acceptable if your race is in the minority, otherwise, you'll be perceived as a racist.

RIAA Sequentially Repeating Edison's Mistakes: "After watching the RIAA's public Dance of Death closely for only about a year, everything they do is so predictable that I'm beginning to wonder if they even have any control over their own destiny. For some inexplicable reason, they seem compelled to follow through until the final scene, perhaps unaware that there's been a rewrite in the ending over the last 90 years.

While suggested reading is the series I did earlier on Thomas Edison, here is a synopsis of how Edison's approach to running an entertainment industry so closely parallels what the RIAA is trying to do. After all, the goal is the same -- to maintain a monopoly."

Another historical analogy to the current RIAA fiasco. Slightly different than Ford, but with equal precedent for eventual sanity.

Cold War encryption laws stand, but not as firmly : "Bernstein's case, and two other similar attempts, have been credited with forcing the federal government to drastically scale back its attempts to regulate the kind of privacy-protecting encryption technology used in every Web browser and many e-mail readers. At one point such encryption was regulated by the State Department and treated as a 'munition' like tanks and fighter jets, but the Clinton administration responded to the lawsuits by relaxing the rules and transferring responsibility to the Commerce Department.

At a hearing in October 2002, Justice Department attorney Tony Coppolino effectively placed even the latest rules on hold, saying the government would not use them to prosecute cryptographers engaged in legitimate research. "

Another victory for selective prosecution. Not only should every law come with an expiration date, but if it isn't enforced, it should become invalid. They want to keep the law on the books, but they don't want to enforce it. Somewhere between Dumb and Devious.

Man steals ID of sex offender: "A good rule of thumb for an identity thief is not to steal the name of someone whose reputation is worse than yours -- such as a sex offender. "

Of course, if a sex offender has a better reputation than yours...

Scientists say female promiscuity has benefits for blue tits?: "The next big question the researchers hope to answer is whether promiscuity in females has some sort of genetic basis or whether it is related to personality."

All I can say is that it's a good thing, whyever it happens.

Did E-Vote Firm Patch Election?: "Now a former worker in Diebold's Georgia warehouse says the company installed patches on its machines before the state's 2002 gubernatorial election that were never certified by independent testing authorities or cleared with Georgia election officials.

If the charges are true, Diebold could be in violation of federal and state election-certification rules. The charges also raise questions about the integrity of the Georgia election results and any other election that uses patched Diebold systems that have not been re-certified."

There are assertions and denials on both sides, but the contractor's back-pedaling would tend to support the claims. If the wildest speculation is to be believed, we've already seen an election thrown by Diebold. There is no evidence to support that, however -- electronic voting, at least with this system, leaves no paper trail.

Threat of lawsuit passes for student: "SunnComm Technologies, Inc. announced yesterday morning it would sue first-year graduate student John Halderman over his recent critique of the company's new CD copy-protection method, but by the end of the day SunnComm president and CEO Peter Jacobs said he changed his mind."

They're starting to get it. If it won't put the genie back in the bottle, and will only make people hate you, what's the point? They also point out that it was a native Windows feature (disabling autorun by one of several methods, like holding the SHIFT key) that allowed circumvention. When a protection scheme relies on an optional feature like autorun, it's doomed.

Marijuana and Sex: "First of all, we believe that sex and marijuana use exist completely in the private realm of consenting and responsible adults. We realize, unfortunately, that many politicians see the bedroom and other private, individual activities as important areas for government legislation. "

I like it. More, please.

Social ills keep '70s-haters in retro hell: "In the whiplash cycle of pop nostalgia, the era of Day-Glo smiley faces and grimy misery has come back around at least three times already, less than a quarter century after it choked on its last bong hit. We've seen endless retreads of the flared pants leg and the platform shoe, the natural and the Fu Manchu. Punk is well into its third incarnation; hell froze over and the Eagles reunited. Subtlety and grace have been cowering in the corners of commercial culture for years now; garishness clearly grabs all the attention, and sells. "

They may be playing a bit loose with what defined the 70's -- day-glo and smiley faces definitely showed up earlier -- but they're missing the point in other ways, too. In the 70's, the same people who freaked us out in the 60's became the establishment and everything went over the top. Can we expect less of the techno revolutionaries who cashed out before the bubble burst? I hope not.

Suing Your Customers: A Winning Business Strategy?: "But it’s hardly the first time an industry has tried to solve strategic problems using litigation against its customers. And the strategy is no more likely to work today for the recording industry than it did 100 years ago, when the leading automobile manufacturers in 1903 tried to put down the threat of cheap, mass-produced cars by suing consumers who bought Henry Ford’s automobiles. Napster founder Shawn Fanning may have little else in common with Henry Ford, but both men sparked a wave of innovation that transformed their worlds. And both brought down the wrath of incumbent industry associations which tried to stop their new technologies with litigation. The story of Henry Ford’s eight-year legal battle with the “Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers” is a cautionary tale for today’s Recording Industry Association of America."

Yep, Henry Ford won, for many of the same reasons the RIAA will eventually lose. Many valid parallels are drawn in this excellent article.

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae): "On 5 June 1995 an adult male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the glass façade of the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam and died. An other drake mallard raped the corpse almost continuously for 75 minutes. Then the author disturbed the scene and secured the dead duck. Dissection showed that the rape-victim indeed was of the male sex. It is concluded that the mallards were engaged in an ‘Attempted Rape Flight’ that resulted in the first described case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard."

There are pictures. Click through for the full document in pdf form. Aside from the documentation, I'm most surprised that he watched for 75 minutes.

Tower Records vs. IBM: The Death (and Rebirth) of Online Distribution: "Previously, we covered the reasons the music industry is in such dire straits. The music distributors used the contracts with big-name stars to exercise control over the distribution channels. This all changed when Wal-Mart and other big box retailers showed up and turned the tables. They only carry the biggest hits, but not many new acts. So much music is sold through Wal-Mart and its brethren that they are weakening the industry's ability to create new artists.

The most logical answer to this problem is online distribution. This solves both problems Wal-Mart created. The labels would again have the ability to create bottoms-up buzz by having new artists available at the same place you get your top hits. The labels could also take advantage of media buzz by having the record available for sale as soon as you want to buy it - online, there's no chance of your local store not carrying the title.

On top of that, the economics are very good for the labels. One study I did for a major music distributor concluded that when you purchased a CD for $17.99 at Tower Records, the record label only got $3 - $5. Out of that, they paid the artist and their own expenses and profit. Count the additional sales you could get for a lower price, and the label makes more money from an online price of $3.99 than a store price of $17.99. "

This is a different spin on the discussion. The inference is that the record labels are being held hostage by their narrow-minded, high-volume brick-and-mortar resellers. It also hints that there will be a "tipping point" where the labels see online distribution as a bigger piece of the pie than traditional distribution. If the majority of your product is distributed through channels that only stock the hits, you would be less inclined to invest in artist development. Does this account for the decreases in the number of titles released annually?

Police probe alteration to vice-narcotics Web page: "The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws thought police were turning over a new leaf when it saw the page’s background filled with rows of pot leaves with the letters NORML under each leaf."

Would it be such a bad thing to put NORML in charge of vice and narcotics enforcement? I don't think so.

His dress makes some cross: "Dwight was dressed up to aid a challenge fund-raiser for Pride Zone, a drop-in center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight-allied youth. For a $5 donation, people "bought votes" for their favorite of six different outfits. Dwight's challenge raised $15,000, and he wore the "Femme Fatale Wilma" outfit for the day, starting at noon. As part of the agreement, Dwight paraded down Main Street greeting people. He made such an imposing "femme fatale" that Lyda Lewis, Dwight's wife, was speechless when she first spied him.

"The fact that people are upset about his dressing up speaks to the very issue of intolerance of differences that Pride Zone, and the teen-agers who are part of it, have to deal with, he said. In addition, 'I'd argue that that's the best dressed I've ever been in council chambers,' he said."

They're upset at how he was dressed, not how he conducted himself. "After hearing that 14 signed the petition, Dwight said, 'It's a groundswell.'"

Lesbian fete ordered to admit 'men': "Organisers of an Australian lesbian festival have run into a politically correct storm after being accused of discriminating against transsexuals."

The exemption would have also allowed the group to ban boys over eight and non-lesbian girls over 15.

Obese Americans feed on diet of death: "'Looking at some of the recommendations from the department of agriculture gives the idea that they've forgotten that we're feeding people, not horses,' said Walter Willet, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The obesity epidemic afflicts nearly two out of every three people and has been related to illnesses resulting in the death of one in eight Americans each year, according to the Surgeon General's office. "

Why, yes, I'd like fries with that.

Bond's chief spokesman leaves after Web site flap: "The office of U.S. Sen. Christopher 'Kit' Bond, R-Mo., said Thursday that Bond's chief spokesman, Ernie Blazar, was responsible for setting up the anti-Democrat website named N8354N, the number on the tail of the plane that crashed killing former Gov. Mel Carnahan, his son, Randy, and campaign aid Chris Sifford."

For those who don't get it, Mel Carnahan was the corpse who defeated John Ashcroft in his final Senate bid. Thanks to Google Cache you can still see the N8354N web site, at least until someone wises up and harasses Google to remove it. Check out the linkage on the right. Not just strange -- mean, too...

Man ticketed for warning other drivers of officer: "``It's one thing to warn people of impending danger like an accident or broken-down car ahead. It's another thing to warn people there's a police office ahead who's trying to do his job and catch speeding cars,'' Barnes said. ``I understand the argument that he was helping slow people down. All I can say is, the officer interpreted the gentleman's action as interference with his duties, and the judge agreed.''"

The problem here is that they are misinterpreting the officer's purpose. His purpose is not to catch people speeding, it is to enforce the speed limit. Anything that increases compliance should be looked on as positive, not prosecuted. Whatever gets them to slow down... Unless it was a speed trap set up to enhance revenue, rather than to enforce the law.

Oscar Screeners Scratched: "The screen ban was announced Tuesday, just in time for MPAA President and CEO Jack Valenti to announce it before a Senate committee in Washington, D.C. He cited the move as 'a determined commitment to combat digital piracy and to save movie jobs in the future.' Valenti added that '400,000 to 600,000 films are being illegally abducted every day...and the MPAA intends to deploy every weapon at its command' to stop this theft. "

First, it's nice to see them react with fear to something that's already been shown to be responsible for about 80% of online movie piracy. Second, the quip about '400,000 to 600,000 films' every day is silly. The IMDB, for example, lists only about 200,000 titles. Jack is apparently suggesting that every movie (and TV show) ever made is being pirated 2-3 times daily. Put differently, even if you are conservative, that's 1,200,000 GIGABYTES daily. Unlikely.

JETBLUE PASSENGERS are unhappy about it sharing their personal data: "Wesley Clark is on the board of Acxiom, the company involved, according to this story in the Post. Clark didn't have a specific role with JetBlue, it says, but he was behind the development of the passenger-information database involved.

Does this tell us anything about the privacy policies of a Clark Administration? I don't know. Somebody should probably ask him. "

Of course there will be political fallout. From cryptome.org: "Bear in mind that General Wesley Clark, US presidential contender, is/was a member of the board of Acxiom, giant database producer, which sold far more information to Torch Concepts on citizens of the world than JetBlue provided apparently for no cost. As the Torch study proclaims, it was the Axciom data that was much more useful to spy on citizens than that of JetBlue."

No CAPPS II for JetBlue: "In violation of their own privacy policy, JetBlue gave the travel records of everyone who had flown their airline between 2000 and September of 2002 to defense subcontractor Torch Concepts. Torch then matched the JetBlue records against other databases Social Security numbers, DMV records, property records and other sensitive information in an un-American, CAPPS II-like attempt to predict who was potentially a terrorist.

The results were then presented by Torch at a Homeland Security conference and then posted to the Internet.

JetBlue is now under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Homeland Security; and rumors of a class action lawsuit abound."

Maybe their use of the phrase 'data rape' is a bit strong. Maybe not. What's not made clear is that only one screen of customer data, not all of it, was included in the presentation that was posted on the Internet. It was the presentation, not the database, that was posted. However, data on all 5 million customers was provided to the Transportation Security Administration. I feel safer now.

Ironically, JetBlue has withdrawn from CAPPS II testing over privacy concerns.

The Surprising Benefits of Being Unemployed: "We actually have two refrigerators in our kitchen, a big one and a small one. (The reasons are historical and trivial.) Now we've reached the point where we could easily get by with just the big one. Soon, we'll be able to manage with just the small one. When we reach that point, perhaps we'll sell the big one, assuming anyone would be so foolish as to buy it. (It wasn't a great refrigerator even when it was new.) That will give us extra space in the kitchen, but more to the point, it will make it easier to move to smaller quarters, if it comes to that. Such as under a highway viaduct. Do they have power outlets there? I suppose not. It's not something I used to think about all that often. "

At least he's not bitter...

These men want their foreskins back: "Medically popularized in the early 20th century, circumcision has become a routine option for newborn American boys. But a backlash has surfaced in recent years, often bolstered by conflicting medical data about the procedure’s benefits. Out of that debate has emerged a tiny but growing movement of men who not only oppose circumcision, but want back what they consider taken from them. They want to regrow their foreskin."

Without foreskin, you can't get smegma. Mensa, at least my local chapter, once offered a workshop on "The Restoration and Maintenance of Your Virginity." This seems even sillier. The one hidden gem here appears to be that several of the oft-marketed techniques for penis enlargement (which don't work) DO actually work for other purposes...