Entries Tagged 'InterTubes' ↓

I remember 1995, when I first started writing online — it was awesome. You could — and I did — open up your entire heart, spill your guts out to a faceless, anonymous audience who could choose to listen or go somewhere else and not care. Those who listened, who cared, who sympathized with my rantings about how much I hated the government, hated my teachers, hated everything (hey, I was 15 in 1995) formed a bond with me, and I keep in touch with them to this day. Being able to express myself so freely and completely without hindrance made my angst-ridden teenage life possible.

Being able to hold politicians, companies, and individuals accountable for their actions by publicly calling them out for their misbehavior is what makes the internet a powerful tool for the consumer and the voter, what gives the silent majority a voice against tyranny and oppression.

So naturally, such a voice should be oppressed. But how?

Introducing The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act would make it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison to transmit an electronic communication (”including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages”) “with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person…to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.”

Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both….

["Communication"] means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; …

["Electronic means"] means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.

Now the death of Megan Meier was a tragedy, I have no disagreement with that. There is something absolutely psychologically wrong with any adult who colludes with teenagers to systematically torment and psychologically torture a teenager with a well-known history of mental instability. It is morally wrong and in some states illegal to put a loaded handgun in the hand of a suicidal person and tell them, oh I don’t know, how about, “Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.”_[1]

However, while free speech is not protected if it is with the intent to provoke or promote harm (can’t yell fire in a crowded theatre if there’s no fire, for example), the broad message of the new law is far greater that that. It goes farther than what your mother always said, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” and actually gets into the Orwellian territory of “If you say bad things, you’ll go to jail.” We’re not just protecting the Megan Meiers of the world any more. We’re now dancing in the territory of censorship.

UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh outlines six ways that this law could punish Citizen Journalists (like yours truly), newspaper reporters, personal bloggers, and posters on social networking sites:

1. I try to coerce a politician into voting a particular way, by repeatedly blogging (using a hostile tone) about what a hypocrite / campaign promise breaker / fool / etc. he would be if he voted the other way. I am transmitting in interstate commerce a communication with the intent to coerce using electronic means (a blog) “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior” — unless, of course, my statements aren’t seen as “severe,” a term that is entirely undefined and unclear. Result: I am a felon, unless somehow my “behavior” isn’t “severe.”

2. A newspaper reporter or editorialist tries to do the same, in columns that are posted on the newspaper’s Web site. Result: Felony, unless somehow my “behavior” isn’t severe.

3. The politician votes the wrong way. I think that’s an evil, tyrannical vote, so I repeatedly and harshly condemn the politician on my blog, hoping that he’ll get very upset (and rightly so, since I think he deserves to feel ashamed of himself, and loathed by others). I am transmitting a communication with the the intent to cause substantial emotional distress, using electronic means (a blog) “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” (I might also be said to be intending to “harass” — who knows, given how vague the term is? — but the result is the same even if we set that aside.) Result: I am a felon, subject to the usual utter uncertainty about what “severe” means.

4. A company delivers me shoddy goods, and refuses to refund my money. I e-mail it several times, threatening to sue if they don’t give me a refund, and I use “hostile” language. I am transmitting a communication with the intent to coerce, using electronic means “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” Result: I am a felon, if my behavior is “severe.”

5. Several people use blogs or Web-based newspaper articles to organize a boycott of a company, hoping to get it to change some policy they disapprove of. They are transmitting communications with the intent to coerce, using electronic means “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” Result: Those people are a felon. (Isn’t threatening a company with possible massive losses “severe”? But again, who knows?)

6. John cheats on Mary. Mary wants John to feel like the scumbag that he is, so she sends him two hostile messages telling him how much he’s hurt her, how much she now hates him, and how bad he should feel. She doesn’t threaten him with violence (there are separate laws barring that, and this law would apply even in the absence of a threat). She is transmitting communications with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress, using electronic means “to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.” Result: Mary is a felon, again if her behavior is “severe.”

Cites:

• Everybody’s a Critic—and a ‘Cyberbully,’ Apparently
• Federal Felony To Use Blogs, the Web, Etc. To Cause Substantial Emotional Distress Through “Severe, Repeated, and Hostile” Speech?

Here’s a problem from 2007 that’s making a comeback: a lack of connectivity when you update 10.4.10 or later updates for MacBook.

This was back during my honeymoon period with Apple, when I implicitly trusted them and allowed them to automatically update my OS whenever they told me I should. I mean, it’s Apple. It just works, right? I’d had no problems with my MacBook in the seven or eight months since I bought it, and all other updates worked flawlessly. I couldn’t believe anything would ever go wrong with it.

Then, there was OS update 10.4.10

Afterwards, I could connect to any open network after the install (which was helpful, as the neighbors have an open, unguarded network) but not any with WPA encryption. Frustrated, but too proud to call the Apple Care support line I paid for, I reinstalled OS X version 6 and upgraded to version nine, the last update that worked.

That was in July of 2007.

Then, a few weeks ago, I bought Final Cut Express for a project I was working on, which necessitated an upgrade to 10.4.10 or later, and because of the problems I’d had previously, I installed the next update, 10.4.11. Surely Apple would have fixed the problem, right?

Nope. Final Cut worked, but once again, my uber-encrypted home network was rendered useless. The solutions seemed to be either take off encryption (and thus leave others in the household unable to do their confidential work at home — and possibly compromise my anonymity) or keep leeching off the neighbor’s network until a solution presented itself, as Apple’s website seemed to be ignoring the problem.

A quick google search revealed that more than one user had found themselves in similar situation, but the only solution seemed to be to either go backwards to 10.4.9 or go forwards to Leopard. Could it be that Apple was deliberately ignoring the problem so as to either force people to pay for the phone tech support or force them to upgrade to Leopard? One individual took his MacBook (duo core) back to the Genius Bar. A week later it was returned working, though the Geniuses could find nothing wrong with it, supposedly. Hmmm.

I was tempted, but still too proud to call or go into the freshly-opened store in my area. It’s not that I’m an elitist — only that I’m a recent convert to Mac, and I’m still operating on my experience from PC days: fix it yourself or get a hacker buddy to fix it for you (usually, you can bribe a college student with food to do this for you, by the way,) because Microsoft products are a piece of shit and tech support is laughable.

After (two) weeks of (not so) diligent searching, I finally stumbled upon a solution that worked. For the record, I did this while simultaneously installing WPA2 so either one solution works independent of the other or they work in combination. However, the solution listed below seems to be one which most will find useful.

1. Download Pacifist
2. Download Airport Extreme update 2007-002 Later updates will not work.
3. Download the 10.4.9 Combo Update
4. Go to /system/library/extensions and copy appleairport.kext and appleairport2.kext to a backup location just to be safe and then delete them from the extensions folder.I used a USB drive for the backup task.
5. Also in the extensions folder you’ll find IO80211Family.kext and copy it to backup folder and then delete it.
6. Open Pacifist
7. Open Package and choose the airport extreme update
8. In Pacifist you will now see all the files that are in the package. Find system and expand it’s tree by clicking on the triangle. then expand library and then extensions. You will now see the IO80211Family.kext file. Click once on it so it’s highlighted and then click “Install”.
9. When it’s done copying files expand coreservices and then menu extras. Highlight “Airport Menu” and click install.
10. When it’s done copying close the window in Pacifist for the airport update.
11. Open Package and choose the 10.4.9 combo
12. Again find the system folder and expand it and then expand the library and extensions folders.
13. In the extensions folder you’ll see a bunch of files. Look for appleairport.kext and highlight it. Click “Install”.
14. Repeat the previous step with appleairport2.kext
15. Reboot FTW

You should be back up and running in no time!

Edit #100,000: If this post has appeared on your RSS feed reader a million times in variations, it is because WordPress does not handle certain commands particularly well and I had to go through the directions, line by line, to find which lines WordPress found objectionable and re-write them several times to edit out the confusing phrases.

According to an article on Slashdot.com, Metallica may release their next album online in a pay-what-you-want scheme similar to Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails recently did. Now, lest anyone forget, Metallica are the bastards that sued Napster users for downloading their songs and ended the brilliance of Napster for the craptacularness of Kazaa, LimeWire, and BitTorrent. They are also the reason the RIAA began suing music lovers for trading songs online and began what turned out to be a slippery slope that gets steeper every day, with Sony recently suggesting that even making a back up of your CDs or putting CDs on your iPod (both of which are legal) are copyright infringement.

Boo-urns on you Metallica.

I’m going with others who were Napster users and daring everyone who is pissed off at Metallica nearly 10 years after they trashed Napster to, if they follow through with this idea, to download the album for free — or for a penny if they force you to put in a price.

Bastards. You cannot decry a medium and then embrace it when other people find away to make money off it while making their fans happy, you assholes!

Are companies and websites you use reporting your shopping habits back to Facebook? Below is a partial list, reported by The Consumerist, of sites participating in Facebook’s spying program:

AllPosters.com
Blockbuster
Bluefly.com
Busted Tees
CBS Interactive (CBSSports.com & Dotspotter)
Citysearch
CollegeHumor
echomusic
ExpoTV
Gamefly
Hotwire
iWon
Joost
Kiva
Kongregate
LiveJournal
Live Nation
Mercantila
National Basketball Association
NYTimes.com
Overstock.com
Pronto.com
(RED)
Redlight
SeamlessWeb
Sony Online Entertainment LLC
Sony Pictures
STA Travel
The Knot
TripAdvisor
Travel Ticker
Travelocity
TypePad
viagogo
Vox
Yelp
WeddingChannel.com
Zappos.com

In lieu of our usual FMLS, I bring you just one link.

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5318204.stm

George Bush apparently has never heard of the InterTubes or at least does not know about Godwin’s law, which is that if you invoke Hitler or Nazis in order to win an argument that has nothing to do with Hitler or Nazis and/or mention Hitler or Nazis for the purpose of hyperbole or a straw man argument, you invalidate your argument and lose.

Admittedly, this is a fine line to skate. You can validly use Hitler, Nazis, or The Holocaust in an argument about said subjects, or in which the subject himself is one of the above. Margaret says:

Godwin’s law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one’s opponent) with Hitler or Nazis or their actions. It does not apply to discussions directly addressing genocide, propaganda, or other mainstays of the Nazi regime.

Therefore, saying, for example, that Pol Pot was Cambodia’s Hitler, does not invoke Godwin’s law and therefore negate the argument. Saying, for example, that if pacifists who believe war is always wrong were alive in the 1940s, Hitler would rule the world, does. It is a straw man being tossed about to stir up feelings and evade the actual argument, which is a pro vs. con of pacifism and war/conflict. Unless, of course, it isn’t and the argument is one of time and space and we’re talking about time travel where the pacifist would travel back in time to try and kill Hitler, but then the argument would be about Hitler and Godwin’s law would not apply.

Having said all that, this week, George Bush took Godwin’s Law and thrust it into real life: “Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them,” he said.

One may, of course, argue that this is a valid comparison like the Pol Pot example above, except for the following:

1. Osama Bin Laden has not committed genocide.
2. Osama Bin Laden is not the leader of a country or a significant number of people. In fact, but most accounts, Al Qaeda isn’t even a threat anymore.
3. Osama Bin Laden is impotent. Well, power-wise. He releases a videotape (what, you can’t go digital and put it on YouTube? Some terrorist!) and we sit and wait. And wait. And wait some more. Nothing happens because his words do not mean anything. He’s just like the crazy old homeless man on the street who used to be somebody, a contender perhaps, but is now just a crazy old man who lives out in the elements spouting out non-sensical rhetoric.

“I personally don’t believe Al Qaeda exists as a robust organization anymore.” –Wayne White, a former Bush Administration top intelligence official for the State Department.

A more apt comparison for Bin Laden would be a bunny boiler, like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction: he had this great and massive love affair with the United States when we used Afghanistan to fight the Russians we didn’t like, but then we left him for wars on other fronts, used up and wasted. Like a Kleenex: soft, strong, and disposable. And like every jilted woman, Bin Laden wants payback, except instead of being short and feminine, this is a hulking 6′6″ guerrilla fighter we’ve fucked and run from, and the man’s going to have his revenge, served cold. He doesn’t care about dozens of virgins in some metaphysical paradise; he wants his love back, and if he can’t have us (US), then no one can!

Now, see, that is an apt comparison to strike fear in the hearts of men. Few of us alive today were alive for Hitler, but damn, we know about Fatal Attraction! Watch out, Michael Douglas, he’s coming for you!!!

This photograph was taken by David Shrigley. I have no idea what the story behind this notice is, or where in the world this was taken, only that the photo itself is called “Notice” and it’s possibly the best modern art short story ever. I’d like to teach this in a post-modern literature class if I ever could bother finishing Uni or put up with the little bastards long enough to teach them. Usually, five minutes with a room full of teenagers and I’m off to the bar for a martini.

You are a hated, multi-national corporation that closes stores rather than allowing them to unionize, has been found to have hired illegal immigrants in the past, is generally believed to exploit your workers, and is possibly the dictionary definition of evil capitalist concern. In other words, the typical uber-lefty, practically-communist student demographic is going to hate your greedy green guts. Now, you could get someone cool (like that guy off that show that all the kids are talking about) to be your spokesperson. You could start a trendy (yet somehow completely uncool) campaign to bring in the kids. You could hire teen models to pose practically nude and cause all kinds of A&F-style controversy with your back-to-school catelogues. You could even start paying your workers a living wage, get environmental, and pay lots of money to AIDS charities — but then your big business conservative investors may turn against you, assuming they don’t know it’s just a marketing ploy.

Or, you could totally cock things up and start a community in FaceBook.

Guess which Wal-Mart has decided to do.

Guess the result.

And in other news the Earth is round.

Yes, I am aware that BoingBoing.net hating Ted Stevens isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but when it’s this blatant, well, what can you do but post it to your blog!?

Today’s “links round-up” post:

Boy, the Peninsula Tokyo sounds sweet: “This being Tokyo, the hotel also includes a futuristic touch: a first-of-its-kind telephone system that allows you to make calls throughout the building with a cordless handset, which then switches to mobile mode the minute you step outside.”

However, when Sen. Ted Stevens said he wanted to switch from his home phone to a phone he could use on his motorcycle (a, duh, mobile phone — or cell phone, as we know them) BoingBoing called it technobabel.

To be fair, Xeni posted today’s post; Mark posted the one about Sen. Stevens (who did, yes, once compare the internet to “a series of tubes” thus giving rise to my favorite term for the web, “InterTubes”) but I still think this smacks of BoingBoing elitism.

“Oooh, we’re all cool hipsters and this is an old (possibly in big oil’s back pocket) geezer who doesn’t understand technology. When he want’s something, it’s stupid, but when the Japanese do it, it’s not stupid. It’s advaaaaaanced.” Excepting, of course, that BoingBoing isn’t cool enough to reference Jhonen Vasquez, so yeh.