Today's News- Good & Bad Times
Today the Ma$$ Media has brought us some interesting news headlines, both good and bad. In the tradition of hope and good taste, let us begin with the good news first.
Good News
According to CNN, the GAO, or Government Accounting Office (don't worry I can't say that with a straight face either) has released their report on Homeland Security's latest rendition of privacy-molesting "security screening" technology. I'm glad at least some people in the federal government think twice about biometrics. Please write to the GAO and tell them what a great job they're doing, and encourage them to do more of this!
Some other good news is that "Voodoo Child" by Jimmi Hendrix is the greatest song ever! Seriously though, while that may be true for me, I doubt many of you readers care. What you will probably care about, though, is that all resources of the Phoenix of Light Network are now available via secure SSL 256 bit AES/SHA encryption. You can use this for accessing any part of the site, but the most logical use for secure connections is for posting in the forums. Please make use of this resource. It's costing me extra hosting fees, so make it worthwhile for me! To access anything via SSL, just use https:// instead of http://.
Not-So-Good News
Some ISPs are now spying on their own users to fight 'Net attacks. This is somewhat reminiscent of when my ISP blocked TCP:80 outbound following the Code Red worm five years ago or so. As annoying as that was (I had a personal webserver at the time), at least they weren't spying on and reporting me to each other and/or "the authorities", whoever they might be. The best part of this article is near the end, where an interviewee says, quote "He said that although informal systems exist to pass on information about attacks, often commercial confidentiality got in the way of sharing enough information to properly combat attacks."
What? Oh boo hoo. I'm so sorry that consumer privacy was such a hindrance to your work. To make it easier, would you like my DOB, SS#, credit history, and first born son as compensation? Seriously. Some people just need to get a real day job and leave the rest of us the hell alone.
In other news, famous rapper "Masta P" (Percy Miller) and his brother, "Silkk the Shocker" (Vyshonn Miller) might be closet libertarians, at least as far as the UC Campus Police are concerned. Apparently, they are charged with possession of unregistered sidearms. The argument about whether or not firearms should be registered aside, the duo apparently did not have them on their persons but rather hidden under their car seats, meaning that the police must have made an illegal search and seizure, no? The incident occurred in January, and both are facing trial this month.
Although it was probably stupid to carelessly hide loaded handguns under their seats for obvious safety reasons, the criminal charges don't hold any Constitutional water, especially if you consider that they: A. did not have the arms on them at the University, and B. the University is... public! That's right. It's a California state school of higher learning. Yes, I do know about all the "exceptions" such schools have (I found out first hand in secondary school, but not with arms or anything like that), but that doesn't make their existence legitimate.
Personally, I hate rap as much as the next person, but damn. It's not like either has a mile-long rap sheet, though I'm sure they'd be the last to admit their lack of "hardness". Additionally, Masta P was threatened by some crazed fan in 2003. If that doesn't make you want to have a gun with you most of the time, I don't know what would!
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