You kids with your AIs and your Bitcoins and whatnot

When the French do something sensible, it deserves a mention.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

A Win for Encryption: France Rejects Backdoor Mandate

In a moment of clarity after initially moving forward a deeply flawed piece of legislation, the French National Assembly has done the right thing: ...

Splurging out on social media (with regard to a comment that was likely right) is not the way.

Chicago Sun-Times

Dan Bernstein is out at The Score after social-media flare-up

The Score vice president Mitch Rosen announced on the air Friday in a brief statement that Bernstein will not return to the station.

Just want my Necco wafers back. View quoted note →

Someone brought me a plate of bluegill. Happy St. Joseph's Day, indeed.

Fun opener for the Cubs and Dodgers in Japan. Falling back asleep in the 7th inning was not in the plan, but I apparently needed it.

Wakeup time is 4:45AM CST tomorrow, but it's back. Go Cubs! Go Ohtani! Give the Japanese a show.

Good article. Know thy enemy. View quoted note →

Beautiful day, windy. The sun shines off all the garbage blowing around.

National Emergency on Electricity = a (temporary) displacement of regulation = actually getting things done building new plants.

What if I simply do not want to 'spring ahead?' This nation's hubris. Time belongs to God.

It's important to keep a key presupposition in mind as we examine Trump/Russia: the intention of the West has never been to win the war, but to keep it going perpetually. The utilitarian advantages of a stalemate are many, and among them the State feeds the military industrial complex, all while keeping an expansionist tyrant in Putin locked down. Much commentary becomes derailed by claims like, "Ukraine can't win!" or "Ukraine isn't winning." This was never the point of Western intervention; don't punch a straw man. I think it's good that we're finally having a conversation about this path, instead of just locking ourselves into a mindless narrative repeated by cultural forces. I also side with Trump's intention to stop the casualties, which have been immense. At the same time, Russian containment until they ""elect"" a leader with a better vision for the future is also important. So in the end: 🤷‍♂️

If BTC is to be anything more than a (relatively volatile) investment, me thinks the enthusiasts should not be celebrating yet another tie to the U.S. economy.

Of all the nominations, I thought Kieran Culkin deserved it. So we're actually starting strong.

If you use Firefox because something something privacy, let this be your last nudge to install Brave.

X (formerly Twitter)

BrendanEich (@BrendanEich) on X

W T F https://t.co/ifx7R9rBMV "When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide ...

Quit gaming some time ago, more a result of no time, but also because of the state of modern gaming. After much deliberation, picked up a Play Date for some casual handheld when I have opportunity to relax, and it's been great fun. Maybe not for everyone -- the screen requires an overhead light source -- but it takes me back to my gameboy days for sure.

Playdate. Order now!

It’s yellow. It fits in your pocket. There’s a crank. It comes with 24 free games to get you started. Say hi to Playdate from Panic.

Encryption must never be backdoored. This is something so fundamental to the notion of what encryption is, that there must never be a compromise here. Pulling an encryption feature rather than rendering it worthless is the only noble path, when faced with these options. Removing Signal from the UK app store (when the addled bureaucrats target it next) is the only noble option.

Let's be clear: I'm far from an Apple apologist, but they didn't "cave" here. A publicly traded company exists to make money, and they'll tap dance to any song the government plays if it means the money keeps flowing. Beings act as they are. It's UK officials who failed, and by proxy, the people who allow them to exist as officials in the first place. That you've allowed mentally addled goofballs into office who think backdoors in encryption are even an option is the failure.

The UK is an embarrassment.

MacRumors

Apple Pulls Encrypted iCloud Security Feature in UK Amid Government Backdoor Demands

Apple has withdrawn its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature from the United Kingdom following government demands for backdoor access to encrypt...

I am watching Cubs preseason baseball. Even as they prattle on about the NFL locally (as if there's anything to talk about, really), the thinkin' man's game is back, and I am grateful.