A periodic roundup of kinda sorta almost relevant artciles that I recently enjoyed…
For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance
At BWI, I told the officer who directed me to the back-scatter that I preferred a pat-down. I did this in order to see how effective the manual search would be. When I made this request, a number of TSA officers, to my surprise, began laughing. “We have to search up your thighs and between your legs until we meet resistance,” he explained.
Your time is up, publishers. Book piracy is about to arrive on a massive scale
If book publishers want to see the next decade in any reasonable health, then it’s absolutely imperative that they rethink their pricing strategies and business models right now. They’ve spent three years bickering about eBook prices and Amazon and Apple and Andrew Wylie, and they’ve ignored that massive growling wolf at the door that has transformed the music and TV so much that they’re forced to give their content away for practically nothing.
2 Charged With Fraud of Millions From Pianist
In August 2004, Roger C. Davidson walked into a computer services shop on Main Street in Mount Kisco, N.Y., seeking help with his virus-plagued computer. That was only the beginning. Over time, prosecutors said, Mr. Bedi told Mr. Davidson about an elaborate international conspiracy that had attacked Mr. Davidson’s computer and was threatening Mr. Davidson and his family.
The technology paranoia article was interesting because when I managed our computer/av lab in grad school, I met a woman with similar ignorance and fears. She thought the professors were spying on her by connecting to her home computer via its dialup modem. Of course, I assumed she was joking at first and agreed with her that she needed to watch out. Doh! It was pretty insane…
With regard to the TSA.
Whatever happened to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution?
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and Warrants shall not be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
“Whatever happened to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution?”
9/11…and unfortunately the appearance of enhanced security became more important than reasoned, rational thought and real security.
Book publishers seem to have learned nothing from the music industry. They haven’t made buying a series of books easy, each one is published “individually”. They are obsessed with DRM, which ends up restricting the customer (Kindle vs. iPhone vs. whatever). They insist on controlling availability of versions. They are going to end up teaching a generation of ebook readers how to pirate and never be able to close that Pandora’s box.
Book/magazine/comics piracy has been around for awhile, it’s just you had to read it on your PC. Now with all the tablets and 4″ phone screens, it’s much easier to consume it, hence more piracy.
In re TSA, one interesting thing I read this morning. Apparently, 9th Circuit Court ruled that you can’t refuse security checks, i.e. if you decide not to go through the scanner and then have reservations about pat-down, you are toast since you can be subject to further action and large fine ($11K, I think). The logic was they didn’t want terrorists making multiple attempts to infiltrate airport. It’s kind of silly though if you read brilliant articles in The Atlantic.
Furthermore, the safety of scanners is heavily disputed. They don’t give out a lot of radiation if it’s distributed through the entire body, but opponents claim it only penetrates your skin or a few millimeters (forgot the exact measurement), so the effect is much greater.