Just what the title says, free encryption software for home users. The web site claims that it’s easy to use and works with pretty much any mail application you might have (Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora..)
Grab a copy before Slashdot posts a link. I also have it housed on my Comcast site (Right-click, download)
In my constant surprise that there are people who not only don’t get it, but openly and adamently opposed those who do get it, I have yet to see the old and new clash in full view of the public, and not just the blogosphere.
Case in point, Wiley, the guy who writes Non Sequitur, one of those comics you used to read but don’t anymore because the characters long ago ceased being actual characters and started being mouthpieces for the artist. (Yes, I had that attitude before the events to-be-commented-upon.)
In short, Wiley doesn’t like web comics, specifically PvP, which I mentioned before. He doesn’t like the fact that Scott Kurtz is giving away his product for advertising revenue. And now he’s taking public pot shots at Scott and web comics in general in his strip.
Penny Arcade has a great rebuttal. Warning: They like to swear, but they make a great point.
I don’t usually go too far with Joi Ito’s politics or POV, but he’s coined my new favorite phrase… “ignorance creep”.”
I’m from a fairly conservative background and even I don’t get this one.
A Virginia state representative, John Cosgrove, has introduced legislation that would require women to report all miscarriages within 12 hours. ALL miscarriages…within TWELVE hours. Link
or, the actual text of the bill
When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman’s responsibility to report the death to the law-enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of which the delivery occurs within 12 hours after the delivery. A violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. [Emphasis NOT mine]
What is the purpose of this? I get the on-our-way-to-banning-abortion tack to the Bill, but the Bill itself is a bit… uhm.. retarded. Natural miscarriages are, unfortunately, not that uncommon. They’re also damned traumatic. Why anyone sees the need to add more trauma by requiring a legal requirement to report it is bordering on insane. And not hyperbolic insanity either; there is a serious disconnect in this requirement, or even coming to this conclusion.
It does open up the possibility of lots of other mandatory reporting, though. Ah, the comedy gold-mine that could becoming. Class A felony for not reporting a cut made by knife (don’t skip in the kitchen!), 90 days for failing to report a nosebleed (hey, you could be on cocaine), make sure you go to gesundheit.gov every time you sneeze (their traffic exceeds even Slashot).
Apparently Fark needs a “Virginia” tag.
NR’s 50th Anniversary: Whittaker Chambers on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged on National Review Online
Ayn Rand is, well, whatever you think of her, she’s rich. Which is pretty much what she set out to be. She’s rich in that Scientology kind of way, with an “institute” and a pseudo-philosophy. She’s also celebrating 50 years of living with Whittaker Chambers’ too-long lost review of Atlas Shrugged, 1,110+ pages of, well, I’ll let Mr. Chambers describe it:
Out of a lifetime of reading, I can recall no other book in which a tone of overriding arrogance was so implacably sustained. Its shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is without appeal.
And that’s not even the good part. National Review has posted this landmark book review (?) on it’s website to commemorate the 50th anniversary of it’s publication.
Of course, not everyone agrees with Mr. Chambers. Someone on Blogcritics, who classified his post (amoung other things) as being about Books:Spirituality, post this excuse-laden article in defense of the book and of Rand. The post is a classic believers rebuttal-all bluster and no meat. After getting done attacking Chambers, the author raises the party lines:
This infamous money quote of the piece has been quite justifiably cited for years by Rand supporters as the textbook example of the dishonesty of her critics.
Ok, tell me about that. Explain to me why it’s “textbook example of… dishonesty”. The author doesn’t. I suspect because he can’t.
Anyway, read the two articles. I’m sure most people already have an opinion about Rand so rehashing 50-year-old arguements won’t change many minds.
Clean up! Ryan’s keyboard.
“20.1-inch 16:10 widescreen LCD display has a 1680×1050 WSXGA+ resolution, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a thin bezel, a 600:1 contrast ratio, 12ms response time (great for gaming), picture in picture capability, DVI, S-Video, and composite inputs, and an optional speaker sound bar […] pick one up for around $600 with Dell discounts or coupons”
drooooool
Is it really that hard for US Rep John Conyers (D-MI) to produce a document to account for distributing turkeys? A letter stating “we’re giving you a boat-load of turkey. Happy Holidays!” or a news story puff-piece when his office passed them out? What’s the hold up?
The director of a Detroit food bank wants to know what happened to 60 turkeys — 720 pounds of frozen birds — that his charity gave to members of U.S. Rep. John Conyers’ local staff two days before Thanksgiving to give to needy people.
Conyers’ Detroit office promised an accounting of any turkey distribution by Dec. 27, but the Gleaners Community Food Bank had received no paperwork as of Tuesday, said the charity’s director, Agostinho Fernandes.
Fernandes said he became suspicious that the turkeys didn’t get to poor people after hearing from a friend that a federal court worker had said he was offered free turkeys from a member of Conyers’ staff.
I’ve added a new category, “Rants”, to which yesterday’s screed has been reassigned. Filing all of that stuff under Politics was becoming silly.
Looks like you can get a decent landscape renderer from Computer Arts for free; Bryce 4 (the previous version) is on the CD that comes with the magazine. I’ve purchased this from Barnes & Noble before (in-store).
Computer Arts website also has a great download section with lots of tools.
I’m starting a new movement. Actually, it’s quite a big movement already, it just hasn’t caught the attention of the important people in the world; you know them, they go by “progressive”, “liberated”, or “Blue stater”. They’re a huge group of people who are engaged in a grass-roots campaign to split this country right down the middle, both ideologically and geographically. They hate “fly-over states” and all that those huge tracts of land, oh wait, people, espouse to believe in.
My movement is this: shut up or I’ll sick my mom on you.
See, the people in the fly-overs, like my mom, don’t get it. They’re the sorry holdovers from an ideological age long gone (over 10 years old!). And what’s the best way to reach people who are the mirror image of your way of thinking? That’s right! Insult them, use lots and lots of sarcasm and, oh yeah, make sure you rub in their faces the most contentious political issue you can think of.
Like abortion. Or gay marriage. Or, just for fun, turn pro-genocide and watch the disbelief come in waves. Ah, it’s such a joy to accuse people of being wrong about things they had never considered to be up for debate. I know I often taunt my mom with my plans for charging people more money for drugs based on how sick they are. Good times.
Let’s take gay marriage as a for instance. I talked about this before, and it seems that many people are still on about it. (Yes, I’m aware it’s a big issue; that doesn’t mean I like to hear about it every bloody day.)
My parents are everything “progressives” hate. (By the way, a little aside: When you read “progressives” on my blog, make sure to put the same venom and spite that you normally hear when someone uses the word “neocon”. Back to it..) My parents are everything that “progressives” hate: church-going, firmly-convicted, Dutch Reformed Christians. The biggest shock of my life growing up was being able to skip the second service on Sunday. Up until their church took a distinct turn toward the Jesus-feet-style service, they went morning and night.
I would sell tickets to a debate between my Mom and a “progressive” on gay marriage. It would be the most you’d ever pay for 5 minutes of your life. Why 5 minutes? Oh, fine. I won’t sell tickets or set up the debate, I’ll just post the transcript now.
Moderator: Welcome to the first debate between Ryan’s Mom and Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco. We have one question tonight and no audience members can ask questions during the proceedings. We’ll begin by posing tonight’s question to Mayor Newsom.
Mayor Newsom, should marriage between same-sex partners be legal?
Newsom: (cite) Denying gays and lesbians the right to marry denies them more than a marriage license; it precludes millions of couples from obtaining health benefits, hospital visitation rights and pension privileges. …gay citizens pay taxes and protect our communities as firefighters and police officers, among other occupations.
Ryan’s Mom: It is not our decision as citizens, or even as people, to decide was is right and wrong. God says that homosexuality is a sin. Encouraging a sinful activity is itself a sin. Supporting gay marriage, for a Christian, is wrong.
Newsom: (ibid) There is no rationale for discrimination against any individuals in California.
Ryan’s Mom: I don’t know about California, but it’s not discrimination. Discrimination is excluding someone for no reason or for reasons over which the person has no control, like their skin color or ethnicity. Homosexuality is an activity already judged by the Creator to be wrong. By your logic, it would be acceptable to allow known pedophiles to run day care facilities.
Newsom: That’s a completely unfair comparison. Homosexuals are not convicted felons.
Ryan’s Mom: True, but if no one is the authority on what is right and wrong, nobody can be. Are you wiser than God, Mr. Newsom?
Newsom: My personal beliefs aren’t open to debate tonight.
Ryan’s Mom: That’s not an answer. I’ll answer it for you then. Of course you’re not wiser than God. So, when you tell me that I’m wrong to act on what God has told me is wrong, it really doesn’t hold much authority, does it?
Newsom: You’re still wrong. Discrimination is wrong, no matter what.
Ryan’s Mom: Make sure you tell that to Jesus on Judgment Day.
And that would be it. The great thing about sending people up against my mom is (1) she always gets the last word and (2) you can’t insult someone’s sweet mother and not expect to get some really bad press about it.
In all seriousness, if “progressives” want to reach out to the fly-over states (and that’s how it’s going to have to be), they need to do a couple things. First, they need to stop with this labeling bullshit. Calling yourself “progressive” neither makes you so nor convinces others that you are. Monty Python had that one down a long time ago: “…Why, if I went ’round calling myself emperor because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!” Just replace “bint” with your pundit du jour. The flip side of this is to stop labeling other people, especially with euphemisms for labels you can’t get away with anymore. Take “neocon”. “Neocons” are either so right of conservative they qualify as nationalistic, and they certainly are not new. So, whatever “progressives” think it means, it probably doesn’t. All that is accomplished by using new terms is to further divide yourself from those you’re trying to reach. (Another aside: I like to use people’s own ammo against them when I can. Read this article and tell me how it would read if it were published in 1938. Discuss.)
Second, take a page from those you’re trying to convince. Evangelize to them. You’ve seen plenty of Mormons in the cities. Organize your own group of pro- or anti- whatevers and buy them plane tickets to Holland, Michigan or Souix Falls, South Dakota. Hell, set up an ideological exchange program. If you do it enough, maybe we’ll wind up with this ideological haze where everyone is kind of happy, but not angry enough to actually do anything about it.
Just as it’s not government’s place to tell me what my morals should be, it’s not yours either. And you certainly won’t be telling my mom what her morals should be. That’s the whole point of having these marriage resolutions on a ballot. When people vote, that’s their way of speaking to you. And they spoke all over the place. Instead of being angry at the messenger, try listening to the message. If you don’t like the message, work constructively to change it.
Or be quiet. I don’t really care.