People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.
HIGH TECH DEMOCRATS – Is There Privacy After 9/11? In the post 9/11 Era, will we forsake privacy for security? Can we have safety and a Bill of Rights? [Privacy Digest]
Too bad this is up north. In my opinion, we can have safety and the Bill of Rights. However, the government doesn’t want us to have either, because if they can make us less safe they can scare gullible people into willingly sacrificing their freedom.
Jetpack Flies (Two Feet) High. The jumps for joy probably were higher than the jetpack actually flew, but a Silicon Valley company is thrilled to have gotten its one-person flying machine off the ground. By Farhad Manjoo. [Wired News]
This is a neat idea, but I doubt it will be affordable for normal people.
Arrest underscores pilots’ frustration. US Airways employee said he could crash his jet without a weapon, authorities say. [USA TODAY.com]
It’s not just pilots who are frustrated, they just have to put up with such nonsense more often. Recreating Nazi Germany in our airports is a great way to discourage people from flying, but there is no way it can prevent terrorists from getting on planes. The only way to do that is to ban everyone from flying.
It looks like my Symantec stock options are back to being worthless. For a few minutes last Thursday they were actually worth $3/share, which is a record. It’s only the second time since my options vested that they had any value! It makes me glad I don’t work for a “dot com.”
Apple sees very strong new-product. Apple has seen the strongest new-product demand for the redesigned iMac desktop computer since the original iMac was launched about three years ago, according to CFO Fred Anderson, who also reinterated that it would ship at the end of the month and that demand had outstripped Apple’s expectations.
[MacNN]
The real question is whether the demand will last. As I recall, there was a strong initial demand for the Cube, but that was still a flop.
If I validate this page using the W3C HTML Validation Service I get a really long list of errors. It would be nice if Radio produced valid HTML. DreamWeaver shows that it’s possible for a commercial HTML generating product to produce valid HTML, after all.
Cannabis medicine trial expanded. Clinical trials of cannabis-based medicines are to be expanded to
treat pain in terminal cancer patients. [BBC News: sci/tech]
Good for the English! Unfortunately, the US government is still loudly insisting (despite all evidence to the contrary) that marijuana has no medicinal value.
Cursed by Interesting Times. Russell Madden at Laissez Faire City Times –
Cursed by Interesting Times – Mr. Madden transforms the Chinese
curse into a blessing. May you live in boring times.
bq.
We are treated daily to the sorry spectacle of politicians and their
cohorts praising freedom while destroying its very foundations. The
principles expressed in our Constitution are transformed from
cherished guidelines invaluable in helping us deal with the current
crisis to unpleasant obstructions to be subverted and overcome by any
means necessary. The excesses our citizens suffered in the past —
various alien and sedition acts, press restrictions, concentration
camps interning our citizens — are deemed irrelevant to this “war”
or, worse, merely ignored.
Anonymous citizens slap physical flags on their car while remaining
innocent of any knowledge of what constitutes true liberty. These are
the same folks who see no reason for concern over national
identification cards, surveillance cameras blanketing our cities,
secret evidence, indefinite detentions, denial of legal
representation, wiretaps on phones and computers, humiliating airport
“security” searches, and the multitude of burgeoning controls inherent
in establishing and maintaining an incipient police
state. Abstractions mean little to such “concrete patriots.” Indeed,
they are the first to attack you for not mindlessly supporting the
unconstitutional behaviors of the politicos hunkered down behind their
concrete barriers in Washington, D.C.
[End the War on Freedom]
In Gold We Trust. Julian Dibbell at Wired –
In Gold We Trust – An article on the modest success of
e-gold, “gold itself, circulated electronically”. And why basing
currency on gold is a really good idea. [End the War on Freedom]
I’ve been mildly interested in e-gold since I first heard about it last year. I’ve never put any money in the system, though–it’s a little hard to trust anycompany with “e” or “.com” in the title to be around in six months. Still, a lengthy article in Wired is bound to help them.