Links

No, it’s not Friday – I’m merely trying to get out the Links post earlier than usual, as I noticed that I had a bunch of links to share. Enjoy them – and read the titles of the links, rather than my very-abbreviated commentary below them.

Censorship:

1. Fear of Repression Spurs Scholars and Activists to Build Alternate Internets 23 September 2011, 10:18 am
2. Austin Police Department’s “Operation Wardrive” Postponed in Light of Criticisms from Digital Rights Activists 23 September 2011, 3:11 pm
3. Government Violates Free Speech Rights with Domain Name Seizure 23 September 2011, 3:23 pm
4. State Department Employee Faces Firing for Posting WikiLeaks Link 27 September 2011, 4:03 pm
5. Analysis: A register for journalists – either unworkable or pointless 28 September 2011, 2:19 am

Somehow I think that people should be able to say whatever they want. Censorship just doesn’t sit well at all. So, United States, with your Bill of Rights, why do property rights trump freedom of speech (links 3 and 4)? Was there a hierarchy in that Bill which I somehow missed?

Copyright / Patent:

1. Petition: Direct the Patent Office to Cease Issuing Software Patents 23 September 2011, 1:36 am
2. White House Petition to End Software Patents Is a Hit 24 September 2011, 9:24 am
3. Congratulations HP You Broke the Code (GPL,That Is) 25 September 2011, 12:30 am
4. Princeton’s publications now openly accessible 26 September 2011, 9:16 am
5. Princeton bans academics from handing copyright to journal publishers 28 September 2011, 4:21 am
6. Righthaven’s Losing Streak Continues in Colorado 28 September 2011, 7:05 am
7. Academics should stop doing free peer-review for non-open-access journals. 29 September 2011, 5:19 am
8. IEEE Refuses to Accept Public-Domain Papers? 29 September 2011, 5:57 am
9. Countries start signing anti-counterfeiting accord that was negotiated secretly 29 September 2011, 8:17 am

Yay, Princeton (links 4 and 5)! Boo, IEEE (link 8)! I’m wondering whether I ought to subscribe to IEEE’s feed any longer, seeing as they’re all about making people pay to learn.

Economy:

1. Bureau Recommends: Food speculation and the price of tortillas 26 September 2011, 2:24 am
2. Going Rogue: Share Traders More Reckless Than Psychopaths, Study Shows 26 September 2011, 8:16 am

Gender:

1. A Campus Champion for Women in Computer Science 26 September 2011, 9:29 am
2. Geek love: In an uncertain economy, women choose brains over brawn 27 September 2011, 4:50 am

Hacktivism:

1. FBI arrests LulzSec member “recursion” for Sony Pictures hack 23 September 2011, 2:24 am
2. They’re Watching. And They Can Bring You Down. 25 September 2011, 10:31 am
3. Online activists hack official Syrian sites 26 September 2011, 2:01 am
4. Pirate Service Makes Textbook Rentals Last Forever 26 September 2011, 5:49 am
5. Interrogated by the State Department 27 September 2011, 9:01 am

Hacktivists are both loved and reviled, because they do the darndest things. Personally, I applaud those who try to make information available (link 4). I’m sure that those of a right-leaning bent like that Syria was mocked (link 3). But, then again, when they target your government, well, they’re evil, right? Sure. Logic your way out of that, I dare you.

Holocaust:

1. SS Colonel Walter Rauff: West German Intelligence Protected Fugitive Nazi 27 September 2011, 7:40 am

No surprise: folk within postwar Germany sheltered Nazis. At least, it’s no surprise to those who follow such matters.

Law:

1. Senate Committee Agrees That Violating Terms of Service Shouldn’t Be a Crime 23 September 2011, 3:19 pm
2. N.Y. Panel Orders Review of NYU’s Inability to Produce E-Data 26 September 2011, 4:09 am
3. How Far Is Recording Police Constitutionally Protected? 27 September 2011, 1:37 am
4. Standing to Challenge Wiretap Law Divides 2nd Circuit 27 September 2011, 1:37 am

Thankfully, a qualification for idiotically published law: link 1. Link 3 is bothersome, because the case hasn’t made it all the way to the Supreme Court (yet), so only if you live within the first circuit court can you definitively say that you’re OK to videotape police being evil. The rest of the country has to wait until (please please please) the Supreme Court has a hearing about whether it’s legal to video police doing whatever they’re doing, in public, without being thrown into jail.

Miscellany:

1. BBC News – Thousands gather for police memorial in Glasgow 26 September 2011, 2:33 am
2. The birth of the Kindle Tablet and the death of the public library 26 September 2011, 1:51 pm

We sang with the CGC at the police memorial (link 1). Unfortunately there aren’t any great pictures of us singing (the camera-people were more interested in Prince Charlie, who showed up 20 minutes late). It was a moving service, but a bit nervewracking, what with the men in black suits and earpieces. None. Link 2, though, talks about the future of libraries, and is a bit worrisome.

Museum / Library / Archive:

1. 200 Tons of Silver Found on WWII Ship 27 September 2011, 1:54 pm
2. Who’s Looking Over Your Digital Shoulder? A Reader Privacy Quiz for Californians 27 September 2011, 4:53 pm

Even if you’re not in California, have a read of link 2, and think about what your reading privacy really means.

Politics:

1. New Evidence of Anti-Islam Bias Underscores Deep Challenges for FBI’s Reform Pledge 23 September 2011, 3:30 am
2. Facebook to launch its own political action committee 27 September 2011, 3:56 am
3. Bureau Recommends: How has Blair made his millions? 27 September 2011, 4:30 am
4. Who’s on the Intelligence Oversight Board? Government Won’t Say 27 September 2011, 2:10 pm

Politics – Israel:

1. Palestinians submit statehood request to UN 23 September 2011, 11:38 am
2. A Plea for the Palestinian Cause: Abbas Appeals to the World’s Conscience 24 September 2011, 3:10 am
3. UN debates Palestine statehood bid 26 September 2011, 9:26 am

I hope that Palestine gets some recognition, after all the evils they’ve suffered at the hand of Israel. I also hope that Israel gives them back the land they’ve stolen, but I’m afraid that’ll be a long time from now, as the pro-Israel political action committee is the largest PAC in the United States. Politicians for sale, of course.

Politics – Roma:

1. Eastern Europe’s Scapegoats: Governments Turn Blind Eye to Violence Against Roma 28 September 2011, 7:09 am

Roma (a.k.a. “gypsies”) are a persistantly persecuted group in Europe. Learn about them.

Privacy:

1. Judge Dismisses Privacy Claims Against Apple, App Makers 23 September 2011, 3:04 am
2. Windows Phone proven to access location data without authorisation 25 September 2011, 12:31 am
3. Senator says OnStar invades privacy 25 September 2011, 10:35 am
4. Windows Phone does transmit location information without user consent 25 September 2011, 10:35 am
5. Don’t Let Privacy Law Get Stuck in 1986: Demand a Digital Upgrade to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 25 September 2011, 10:57 pm
6. FTC Proposes Updates to Online Privacy Rules for Children 26 September 2011, 4:11 am
7. Political Neophytes: Do the Berlin Pirates Have a Nationwide Future? 26 September 2011, 7:02 am
8. Senator Wants Investigation of OnStar’s ‘Brazen’ Privacy Invasion 26 September 2011, 10:57 am
9. Angry Reaction To Spotify’s New Facebook ID Requirement 27 September 2011, 3:56 am
10. UK firm denies ‘cyber-spy’ deal with Egypt 27 September 2011, 4:52 am
11. OnStar Alters Course, Won’t Track Canceled Subscribers 27 September 2011, 2:34 pm
12. Which Telecoms Store Your Data the Longest? Secret Memo Tells All 28 September 2011, 3:30 am
13. Calif. Appellate Court Broadens Cell Phone Search Authority 28 September 2011, 4:16 am
14. Silk, Fire and Another Loss For Privacy 29 September 2011, 6:35 am

Drive a luxury car? Well, welcome to your location data being sold off to anybody who cares (links 3, 8, 11). Don’t think it matters? Well, think about this: anybody could buy information about when you’re at home. If you have anything there that you care about, well, OnStar will tell them when you’re not around. And you’re wealthy (’cause you have OnStar in your car). So, you’re a good target. Enjoy your privacy.

Security:

1. MySQL.com currently Hacked (and serving javascript malware) 26 September 2011, 11:12 am
2. Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control 27 September 2011, 3:20 pm
3. Diebold voting machines vulnerable to remote tampering via man-in-the-middle attack 28 September 2011, 6:54 am
4. Firefox developers are thinking of disabling Java to prevent BEAST attacks 29 September 2011, 2:28 am

Is anybody surprised that Diebold is corrupt and poor at technology? Just look who Diebold put into the office of President the last time around (Dubya). Surprise, surprise, their voting machines can be manipulated to elect whomever the person in control of them wishes.

Social Media:

1. Facebook is scaring me 24 September 2011, 9:23 am
2. How Facebook Envisions the Future of Our eLives And Why It’s Not a Good Idea 24 September 2011, 9:23 am
3. Is it time to revive the Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web? 25 September 2011, 10:30 am
4. Why Facebook’s ‘Frictionless Sharing’ violates HTTP 25 September 2011, 10:35 am
5. Google+ Approaching 50 Million Users 25 September 2011, 10:39 am
6. Facebook denies cookie tracking allegations 26 September 2011, 5:53 am
7. Could You Survive a Social Media Background Check? 27 September 2011, 1:38 am
8. Facebook Keeps A History Of Pokes, Along With A Lot Of Other Data 28 September 2011, 12:42 pm

Oh, FaceHook, how you test the boundaries of what people will accept about their privacy being stripped away so that they can see baby pictures of people they knew in high-school. Good grief, I’m amazed that anybody actually uses the thing! Send a postcard or something, but don’t give away all of your personal information to the idiot who wants to make a profit from selling it!

Technology:

1. Net Neutrality Rules Published, Lawsuits Soon to Follow 23 September 2011, 1:12 pm
2. Unfolding the IKEA Effect: Why We Love the Things We Build 24 September 2011, 4:25 am
3. New Mathematical Model to Enable Web Searches for Meaning 26 September 2011, 9:29 am
4. Footstep Recognition Can ID You at 10 Paces 28 September 2011, 11:58 am

Go, Net Neutrality (link 1)! Of course, the numpties didn’t make mobile providers adhere to the same rules, which means that they can do as they please to throttle your mobile browsing, but it’s at least a step in the right direction. I didn’t quite know where to place link 4, as it’s about technology, sure, but … well, it’s all a bit creepy, frankly. Is this a privacy issue? A security issue? I think that it’s just a bit strange, but I’m sure that somewhere it’ll find an application, and that application won’t make me particularly happy.

-D