(Image is in the Public Domain)

Here's a neat story from the Consumerist about an enthusiast turned pirate and why.

I thought I was the music industry's dream consumer.

…

"You don't understand," I said, "These files were not copied or pirated, I actually purchased them."

"Well" she responded, "You didn't actually purchase the files, you really purchased a license to listen to the music, and the license is very specific about how they can be played or listened to."

Now I was baffled. "Records never came with any such restrictions," I said.

She replied, "Well they were supposed to, but we weren't able to enforce those licenses back then, and now we can"

Crikey. Maybe your customers would be more loyal if you didn't abuse them?

Reaching out to the public openly is a good leadership trait

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I've seen this before with other famous people like Shigeru Miyamoto, but this is the first member of Congress I've seen. Perhaps this marks a shift in our leaders to using technology to help us interact with them. We can hope.

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Though this is the first I've heard of it, a simple hack for any Windows machine since 2000 is to replace the executable file that run when you hit Shift 5 times (called sticky-keys). Since this can be run from the logon screen, as long as a hacker can gain root access to a machine once (say they're a legit user on a multi-user machine), they can use this to bypass logon.

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

Public Citizen reports:

A new law enacted last fall denies a fair hearing or hardly any hope of release to those confined at Guantanamo naval base, and to other non-citizens labeled "enemy

Public Citizen has a web petition going here.

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One of the victims of the RIAA's bullying who fought back won an important victory today. The judge on her case decided that the RIAA must proceed with a jury trial or declare her the victor in the suit (which would likely result in an award of attorney fees for her).

This is important because it may expedite further lawsuits making it more viable for regular people to resist their scam tactics and putting an end to the industry of settlements that the RIAA has created.

(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

In Short

A defiant President Bush warned Democrats Tuesday to accept his offer to have top aides testify about the firings of federal prosecutors only privately and not under oath or risk a constitutional showdown from which he would not back down

The Response

Democrats' response to his proposal was swift and firm: They said they would start authorizing subpoenas as soon as Wednesday for the White House aides.

My car is free for the taking with RFID. Come and get it!
(See online!)

This is very interesting. Apparently it gets hundreds of miles per tank and runs on air. Because it doesn't use combustion, the oil needs only be replaced once every 15,000 miles and the exhaust can be used for air conditioning. Most importantly,

Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc There are no keys – just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket.

Why would they ruin a revolutionary car like this with such a stupid use of wireless devices? How will they keep them from getting stolen? How will they keep people from sending them rogue signals that mess up their operation?

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According to the Washington Post, the FBI issued thousands of national security letters many without any clear ties to "emergencies" or current investigations.

Referring to the exigent circumstance letters, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote in a letter Friday to Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine: "It is . . . difficult to imagine why there should not have been swift and severe consequences for anyone who knowingly signed . . . a letter containing false statements. Anyone at the FBI who knew about that kind of wrongdoing had an obligation to put a stop to it and report it immediately."

No kidding. What I don't get is why everyone is saying that the "FBI's use of the exigency letters "circumvented" the law" rather than just say "They broke the law and many of the buggers are going to jail".

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In my last experience buying a car, they tried to take my Social Security Number even though I had financing from someone else. I fought them for a half hour and nearly left the place until a manager got involved and saw the writing on the wall.

Now, it's getting worse. Public Citizen's blog points to an article about a car dealership that data-brokerings customers for their thumbprints before selling them a car. First seen at banks, the practice seems to be spreading.

Oh no! The university isn't letting us bully people out of money!

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In the RIAA's ongiong bully-lawsuit campaign, it has sent "settlement" letters to numerous Universities to be distributed to "alleged" abusers. The University of Wisconsin has refused to do so without a subpoena. Innocent before guilty? Wow. Count on a University to remember our Constitution.