Reports out of Nevada are that a private, GOP-affiliated voter registration firm has been surrepticiously shredding the registrations of those they believe to be Democrats. Kos has it, and points to coverage at a local TV station.
Dept. of In-No-Way-Good Developments
Approximately a jillion people have passed this TinyRevolution post our way in the last day or so. Precis: Sy Hersh spoke in Berkeley last week, and had a very disturbing story to relate passed to him by a soldier in Iraq. Hersh, for those with short memories, also wrote the more authoritative pieces on the Abu Grahib scandal.
Shining City on a Hill? Who, us?
Dept. of PowerGrabs
CNet is reporting that the DOJ has requested sweeping new powers to prosecute piracy. Not the “Arrr!” kind, but the kind where you copy a CD or a movie. Heretofore, these pursuits have been the responsibility of the rightsholder; now, that powerful lobby is trying to get the government to stack the deck in their favor even more.
This is a profoundly bad idea, but so was copyright extension, and Congress bent over for the RIAA/MPAA cabal then, too — this time, it’s even more attractive to the Feds, since it means more power for them. Remember, once governments get power, they’re loathe to give it up — which is why laws like RICO, PATRIOT, and provisions like these are such bad ideas.
Floor was AND a dessert topping
It seems our friend Slacktivist is both an Evangelical and a VU fan.
(The post in question is actually a follow-up to this one.)
Yet More Data On Why Microsoft Sucks
I noticed my machine was slowing down, so I checked the activity monitor tool. I’d loaded a large (2.5MB) document into Word, but wasn’t using it at the moment — nevertheless, Word was chewing up TWENTY PERCENT of the CPU despite being a background task.
What the hell is wrong with those people in Redmond?
These would be funny
If I hadn’t heard stuff just as stupid: ClientCopia: a compendium of stupid things said to web developers and designers.
Coolest Feature EVAR
MobileWhack points out that you can now use Google vis SMS.
You can use Google via SMS now, thanks to Google SMS. Use Google to get listings or query things for you in a variety of ways: Simply sending “pizza 02906” to 46645 will get you the pizza joints in my neighborhood. And yes, 46645 is GOOGL. Cooler still are the tipsheets and Froogle price lookups all available via SMS. I think Google just became the killer app for mobile phones.
Dept. of Technological Tomfoolery
So now I’m en route back to Houston. The DC Metro is a lovely thing, but you can never account for train delays, so in planning for a slow trip I of course generated a quick one (two trains, no waiting). I figured I’d call Nogators Ground Transportation Coordinator Willis to confirm that the flight was on time, but discovered that my provider of choice does not in fact, um, provide at Washington National. I can’t make a call for love or money. I have, as folks say, “no bars” (and never mind that I’m typing this in a bar of sorts).
No problem, I thought. I’ll just use the Prez Club’s Wifi and send my esteemed colleague and DC host an email asking him to call Erin to confirm on-time departure, etc. Once in the club, though, I counted myself clever for realizing I could text-message Erin from the T-Mobile site (of course, I only realized this after sending the aforementioned mail; I’m thinking of it as a belt-and-suspenders sort of thing).
About this time, the bartender — a charming woman of middle age who used to live in our fair city — asked what I was doing, so I told her. Her response was “I have free weekends and no long distance; do you want to use my phone?”
I did.
Moral: Bartenders can solve all problems, even some whose solutions are not found in the consumption of certain potent potables. Tip accordingly.
People keep asking, so we’re just gonna post it
Want some good headphones, or at least headphone advice? Try http://headroom.headphone.com/. They rule. Really.
Coolest. Play-Doh. Evar.
Doh-Doh Island: the Tiki Play-Doh set. From Cory at BoingBoing, natch.
Dysfunction Junction
The Disfunctional Family Circus archive is now online. Enjoy.
Hot Damn! More Monkeys!
Researchers think they may have found a new kind of gorilla in the Congo. Said gorillas are TWO METERS TALL.
I for one welcome our new gorilla overlords.
Dept. of Dead Deconstructionists
We were going to do something clever about the passing of Derrida yesterday, but Fafblog beat us to it.
Apology.
We are deeply sorry for what we did last night. We know that many people — some of them our dear, dear friends — enjoy a dram or two of Bushmill’s from time to time, but as a result of our actions in a Washington, D.C., Irish pub last night, we regret to inform you that there is no more Bushmill’s to be had, as we have drunk it all.
We’re really sorry. I blame Tony.
We only have one thing to say about the second debate
Dred Fucking Scott? What the Hell?
I’m pretty sure the weren’t thinking “how can we look MORE absurd, evil, and ridiculous?”, but with stunts like this, it sure looks like it
From the Well, we discover two interesting points:
- Michael Moore is offering free underware to people who promise to register and vote; and
- Republicans want him prosecuted for this
You just can’t make this shit up.
In which we blog on the road
- What we thought when we ate at the IAH Wendy’s, again
- “They sure could use a taqueria up in this bitch.”
- What we thought when we opened the Powerbook to write that
- “Holy crap, Continental’s Prez Club finally got off the suck-stick and put in Wifi.”
- What we did in celebration
- Had a pint of pseudoShiner. What the fuck is wrong with just having Shiner? What is the Ziegenbock crap?
- What we’ll do after that
- Have another.
- And then?
- Stop being a smartass, would you? They’re free.
- What’s weird about the President’s Club
- In addition to the presence of children, the excessively bright lights, and the widespread patronage of people who haven’t seen the inside of a proper bar since sometime in the Clinton administration, the bartender has a cube-style nameplate propped up in front of the Courvoisier.
- Notwithstanding that, how we’re pretty sure we could get into a fight just about now
- “Are those Braves the best damn team in baseball, or what?”
- Why we won’t do it
- Not enough time to get that drunk before flight. Also, baiting Astros fans in that way would suggest a greater attachment to or investment in professional sports, by a couple orders of magnitude, than we actually have.
- Remember that thing about the bartender’s nameplate being the weirdest thing here? Never mind.
- The dorky looking guy in Dockers and plastic hair next to me at the bar has an MP3 ringer of “Back in Black.” The bartender just laughed at him.
- Where we are in that beer progression
- Number two is on the way
- How long we have until the flight
- Looks like an hour. This post could get an awful lot longer.
Why Old Things Are Sometimes Better
Letterpress may die in our lifetimes, or if not ours, then that of our progeny.
Watch this, about Firefly Press, to see how cool it is. (7+MB Quicktime)
Now, courtesty of BoingBoing, the coolest laptop bags EVAR
They’re made from SPACE STUFF. Must. Have.
This Just In: Internet Explorer Still Sucks
Cnet has a whole pile of stories on the subject. Seriously, use something else.
“No Smorking”
We know we need at least one of these. Maybe more.
If you’re not watching the Wire yet, here’s a good explanation why you should
From Salon. It’s long, but good. The bad part is that it’s hard to start now, but the season 1 DVD comes out this month.
Dept. of Creeping Science Fiction-ism
Our new favorite game
Doom 3? Pre-release Half-Life 2? Nope. It’s Kingdom of Loathing, where currently we’re a third-level accordian thief. CNet has more…
It’s like retarded Mindstorms, but cooler, and unavailable
It’s toys like Topobo that make us almost wish we were kids again.
Of course, it’s worth noting that we could just buy the damn toy anyway, which we may well do.
All that’s left is “you can’t dust for vomit”
If you liked Spinal Tap, then you may enjoy listening to some actual idiot-musician-in-studio ranting from The Troggs. This is all over the net this morning, but it’s stilll pretty funny.
It doesn’t say so, but we suspect she died in the shower
Janet Leigh, dead at 77.
Just when you thought they couldn’t go lower
Fox News is now making shit up to post about Kerry. They’ve since retracted the story, but, I mean, damn. Unlike with CBS, there’s not any room for “we were duped” in this one.
Three Good Things, and One Bad One
All from the good folks over at BoingBoing:
- Sony ditches DRM CDs. After being stupidly lax on the whole MP3 front, this is sort of shocking. More shocking is their spin, which I’ll leave to BB.
- MSFT’s FAT shakedown ended by Patent Office. Redmond was trying to patent a file system format; USPO says no.
- EFF kicks Diebold’s Ass
Diebold, the slimeballs whose faulty voting machines threaten the basis of US democracy, tried to silence its critics, a group of activists who were publishing leaked memos detailing the company’s malfeasance, by falsely claiming that they were violating Diebold’s copyright. Now a court has ruled that Diebold knowingly abused copyright and the DMCA when it sent nastygrams to the activists’ ISPs, and has awarded the activists damages and court costs.
And now one bad one: A St. Louis court has ruled in Blizzard’s favor and against the EFF in the “BNETD” case concerning open source game servers. Fair use? What’s that?
Must. Not. Make. Snarky. Comment.
According to this PIPA study, Bush supporters typically misunderstand many of his policy positions, while Kerry supporters’ understanding of their candidate’s positions tend to be more accurate.
How you may amuse all but one of your coworkers this week
We suggest trying a stealth Lynndie.
(Note: we’re pretty sure this one is opposed by the ASPCA even if it’s not technically a Geneva Convention violation.)
Today’s nonsequitors, in context
- Your search – “mutant lesbian foot porn industry” – did not match any documents.
- “If you’re googlefishing, you have time to make some snarky comments“
Trouble is, he’s not running
Fred Clark shows us why James Fallows would make a better president than Bush.
Dept. of Truly Bizarre Quotes
“I even take the position that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged,” Scalia said.
Widely blogged, but still damned good news
A significant portion of the PATRIOT Act has been declared unconstitutional:
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, in the first decision against a surveillance portion of the act, ruled for the American Civil Liberties Union in its challenge against what it called “unchecked power” by the FBI to demand confidential customer records from communication companies, such as Internet service providers or telephone companies. Marrero, stating that “democracy abhors undue secrecy,” found that the law violates constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable searches. He said it also violated free speech rights by barring those who received FBI demands from disclosing they had to turn over records. Because of this gag order, the ACLU initially had to file its suit against the Department of Justice under seal to avoid penalties for violation of the surveillance laws.
So much for the right to disagree
An Army Reservist who wrote an essay for a conservative antiwar site called “Why We Cannot Win” now faces official charges of disloyalty which may carry up to a 20 year sentence. While it’s true that members of the military are bound by some rules that do not apply to the public at large, it also seems likely that simply expressing an opinion contrary to official US doctrine should remain protected speech. Even if he’s acquitted, it’s a sure bet they’ve ruined his career.
Nice. Way to encourage democracy and freedom!
Dept. of Cool Shit We Can’t Think Of A Use For
TiddlyWiki is an all-Javascript/CSS Wiki implementation. Neat, but with waaaay too much client-side complexity. But still neat.
We can’t believe it’s taken this long to link to them
MAD Magazine has a lovely parody of Bush’s advertisements.
Further evidence of societal collapse
On Saturday, I saw this in a suburban Best Buy whilst I waited for the rain to lighten enough to make I-45 something other than a deathtrap.
Yes, it’s a bad camphone shot (the T610 is many things, but “good camera” is not one of them). However, you should be able to see that:
- It’s a nice, stainless steel fridge; and
- it’s got a fucking TELEVISION in it.
What you probably cannot see is that it’s actually an HDTV. Who buys this shit? Are they reproducing? Christ.
Dept. of Who’s Smarter
Jon Stewart appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s show last month, and during the show O’Reilly repeatedly referred to Stewart’s Daily Show audience as “stoned slackers.” The folks at Comedy Central took exception, so they had a bit of research done.
As it happens — according to Neilsen Media Research — Stewart’s audience is more educated than O’Reilly’s, which presumably surprises no one other than O’Reilly. Heh.
September Resolution
I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night. I will not drink with Australians until 4 in the morning on a Monday night.
At least, not until the next time that bastard comes to town. Nice to see ya, Andy.
We’d say “unbelievable,” except it’s not
In some swing states, Democratic voter registration efforts are absolutely trouncing similar efforts across the aisle. So in Ohio, the Republican Secretary of State is attempting to invalidate many of the new registrations based on the weight of the paper they’re printed on (the blog’s PDF link is also here; it’s a reprint from a Dayton paper).
Dept. of Mildly Bizarre Art
That these were done using only a standard Bic pen is more than a little amazing.
As it turns out, that’s not illegal in San Francisco
That fair city’s forces of prudishness (both of them) were dealt a setback last week in their efforts to stop the “Naked Yoga Guy” from doing, well, yoga in the buff at Fisherman’s Wharf:
“Simply being naked on the street is not a crime in San Francisco,” said Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
This reminds us of a particularly apt Venn diagram, reproduced below:
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(Diagram from this piece by Lore Sjoberg at the now-defunct Brunching Shuttlecocks humor site.)
Schneier on Security
Security expert Bruce Schneier has two op-eds worth reading from last week:
Read ’em both.
More on the RNC’s difficult relationship with “truth”
Atrios has an image of the wildly inflammatory and downright untruthful mass mailing the RNC sent out in two battleground states.
The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that “liberals” seek to ban the Bible. It said the mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush. The mailings include images of the Bible labeled “banned” and of a gay marriage proposal labeled “allowed.” A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: “This will be Arkansas if you don’t vote.” A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians.
A vote for GWB is an endorsement of tactics like these.
Oh, THIS is a good idea
Despite the fact that apparently half the Windows installed base hasn’t yet moved to XP (and there are LOTS of good reasons for that), Microsoft announced that it would release no more security updates for Internet Explorer for versions of Windows prior to XP. Al the more reason to use Mozilla, people.
Yeah, this about covers it
The whole GOP campaign in a single editorial cartoon.
What useless, evil, goatfuckers are doing this year
Proposing blatently unconstitutional bills to force Democrats to vote against them, on the theory that “under God” is important enough to mock the Constitutional notions of “checks and balances” and “judicial review.”
Christ.
A small example of, potentially, why Bush doesn’t run on issues
At a school in Eden Prairie, a teacher arranged for a “mock election” at a parent/teacher/student meeting:
He read where each of the candidates stood on the main issues of the campaign. He didnÕt say who was who… just “this is what candidate one says, this is what candidate two says”. The kids made tally marks about each thing they agreed with from each candidate. Then the kids voted on the issues. Four kids voted for Bush. 26 kids voted for Kerry. … most of the kids who voted for John Kerry were greatly upset by it. They booed the results of their vote. They were upset that they had voted for the “wrong guy”. The teacher went on to say that he assured the kids that the election was not yet over, and that there still might be many issues where they would agree with George W. Bush, and maybe when they tried again later, they would end up voting for him. The parents looked relieved as well. . . The gears that had begun to grind uncomfortably in their heads smoothed out and they relaxed. We moved on to talk about other things, and everyone was happy.
Yeah, best not to actually THINK about what your candidate might do. Just vote. Right, George?