December 2019 – The Death of the Mind

Forgetting 2019: A Poem Global Justice in the 21st Century

Dec 312019

[Prefatory Note: At this age, having exhausted prose options, I indulge myself during holidays, by sharing poems that seek also your indulgence. I searched 2019 forsome glimmers of good news, and felt stymied. Of course, here, there, everywhere there were glorious private exceptions, yet hovering over the public marketplaces ofthe world I cringe beneath menacing storm clouds and below chaos and misery, and catastrophes waiting to happen. It is this spirit that I looked back on 2019,…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2019/12/31/forgetting-2019-a-poem/

2019-12-31 Comments Off

“They’re abysmal students”: Are cell phones destroying the college classroom? Ars Technica

Dec 292019

Enlarge / A student in Berlin, Germany places his smartphone on a shelf on the classroom wall at the beginning of the lesson. (credit: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB/Getty Images) In the early 2000s, when I taught freshman writing at the University of North Carolina, disengaged students couldn’t rely on the Internet to distract them—they had to make their own fun. One male student used a light “get to know each other” first-day exercise as a chance to…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1637139

2019-12-29 Comments Off

GNU Maintainers Seeking Greater Transparency, Clear Procedures From The FSF Phoronix

Dec 292019

Following Richard Stallman being ousted from the Free Software Foundation, the FSF was said to be re-evaluating its relationship with the GNU while R.M.S. said no radical changes are expected. Now a group of GNU maintainers have laid out some of their desires for improving the interactions between the GNU and FSF…

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2019-12-29 Comments Off

Why an internet that never forgets is especially bad for young people New on MIT Technology Review

Dec 292019

As past identities become stickier for those entering adulthood, it’s not just individuals who will suffer. Society will too.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614941/internet-that-never-forgets-bad-for-young-people-online-permanence/

2019-12-29 Comments Off

Joey Hess: 2020 hindsight see shy jo

Dec 292019

(Someone stumbled upon my 2010 decade retrospective post and suggested I write a followup…) This has been a big decade for me. Ten years ago, I’d been in an increasingly stale job for several years too long. I was tired of living in the city, and had a yurt as a weekend relief valve. I had the feeling a big change was coming. Four months on and I quit my job, despite the ongoing financial…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/2020_hindsight/

2019-12-29 Comments Off

Your children won’t change the world Richard Stallman’s Political Notes

Dec 292019

Comparing population growth to growth of traffic explains the fallacy in the “self-soothing” conceit that your children will make the world better (unlike most other people’s children). “‘Thinking your child will be part of the solution, not the problem, is hubris.’ We are the collapse. Our children are the collapse. That article is brilliant, but the author’s reasoning errs at the end when she asserts that her only choice, aside from reproducing and regretting the…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-sep-dec.html#29_December_2019_%28Your_children_won%27t_change_the_world%29

2019-12-29 Comments Off

Bringing the free software vision to 2020 Planet GNU

Dec 292019

2019 has been an eye-opening, transformative year for free software and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), bringing some major changes both internally and in the world around us. As we navigate these changes, we are guided by the FSF’s founding vision — the four freedoms that define free software, and our mission to make all software be compatible with human freedom. It must be honest, transparent, and shareable, and it must truly work in service…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/bringing-the-free-software-vision-to-2020

2019-12-29 Comments Off

FSF Blogs: Bringing the free software vision to 2020 Planet GNU

Dec 292019

2019 has been an eye-opening, transformative year for free software and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), bringing some major changes both internally and in the world around us. As we navigate these changes, we are guided by the FSF’s founding vision — the four freedoms that define free software, and our mission to make all software be compatible with human freedom. It must be honest, transparent, and shareable, and it must truly work in service…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/bringing-the-free-software-vision-to-2020

2019-12-29 Comments Off

Wifi deauthentication attacks and home security Fedora People

Dec 272019

I live in a large apartment complex (it’s literally a city block big), so I spend a disproportionate amount of time walking down corridors. Recently one of my neighbours installed a Ring wireless doorbell. By default these are motion activated (and the process for disabling motion detection is far from obvious), and if the owner subscribes to an appropriate plan these recordings are stored in the cloud. I’m not super enthusiastic about the idea of…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/53968.html

2019-12-27 Comments Off

Matthew Garrett: Wifi deauthentication attacks and home security Fedora People

Dec 272019

I live in a large apartment complex (it’s literally a city block big), so I spend a disproportionate amount of time walking down corridors. Recently one of my neighbours installed a Ring wireless doorbell. By default these are motion activated (and the process for disabling motion detection is far from obvious), and if the owner subscribes to an appropriate plan these recordings are stored in the cloud. I’m not super enthusiastic about the idea of…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/53968.html

2019-12-27 Comments Off

FSF Blogs: Raleigh, North Carolina: good BBQ and great outreach for free software knowledge. What’s New at GNU

Dec 212019

We recently posted a lengthy write-up of the licensing team’s activities in 2019. Although we have been really busy, we didn’t want to miss the chance to share some specifics about our activities in October. That month, members of our licensing and campaigns teams headed down to North Carolina to spread the message of software freedom. First, on the 14th & 15th, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) staffed a booth at the ATO conference where…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/raleigh-north-carolina-good-bbq-and-great-outreach-for-free-software-knowledge

2019-12-21 Comments Off

Raleigh, North Carolina: good BBQ and great outreach for free software knowledge. What’s New at GNU

Dec 212019

We recently posted a lengthy write-up of the licensing team’s activities in 2019. Although we have been really busy, we didn’t want to miss the chance to share some specifics about our activities in October. That month, members of our licensing and campaigns teams headed down to North Carolina to spread the message of software freedom. First, on the 14th & 15th, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) staffed a booth at the ATO conference where…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/raleigh-north-carolina-good-bbq-and-great-outreach-for-free-software-knowledge

2019-12-21 Comments Off

Americans should definitely be worried about the EU’s new copyright rules Boing Boing

Dec 212019

The passage — through MEPs erroneously pushing the wrong buttons! — of the new EU Copyright Directive last March means that online platforms operating in the EU will have to implement filters that allow anyone, anywhere, to claim anything as their copyright, whereupon the platforms will have to detect any attempt by anyone else to upload those claimed works and block them. Julia Reda (previously) was an MEP during the passage of the Copyright Directive…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/20/fat-fingered-disaster.html

2019-12-21 Comments Off

Beer company in trouble for “reindeer orgy” beer cans Boing Boing

Dec 082019

Sycamore Brewing received a spanking from North Carolina’s Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE), which will punish the brewery for making a beer can with cartoon reindeer having sex. From Vice: [T]he label likely violated the agency’s rules prohibiting obscene material, and the brewery didn’t submit it for approval before producing the cans either. As a result, Sycamore will most likely face a fine of between $500 and $1,000. “We’re in a moment in our country where…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/07/candian-beer-company-in-troubl.html

2019-12-08 Comments Off

We Need To Save .ORG From Arbitrary Censorship By Halting the Private Equity Buy-Out Deeplinks

Dec 062019

The .ORG top-level domain and all of the nonprofit organizations that depend on it are at risk if a private equity firm is allowed to buy control of it. EFF has joined with over 250 respected nonprofits to oppose the sale of Public Interest Registry, the (currently) nonprofit entity that operates the .ORG domain, to Ethos Capital. Internet pioneers including Esther Dyson and Tim Berners-Lee have spoken out against this secretive deal. And 12,000 Internet…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/12/we-need-save-org-arbitrary-censorship-halting-private-equity-buy-out

2019-12-06 Comments Off

Oral Argument Held in Montana Ballot Access Case Ballot Access News

Dec 062019

On December 5, U.S. District Court Magistrate John T. Johnston heard oral argument in Montana Green Party v Stapleton, 6:18cv-87. The chief issue in the case is the unequal distribution requirement for the party petition. The Green Party successfully gathered 5,000 valid signatures, which is required. But the law also requires that the petition contain the valid signatures of between 55 and 150 signatures in each of thirty-four state house districts. Montana is the only…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://ballot-access.org/2019/12/05/oral-argument-held-in-montana-ballot-access-case/

2019-12-06 Comments Off

Here’s how much global carbon emission increased this year Ars Technica

Dec 062019

Enlarge / Bar graph of climate data. (credit: Global Carbon Project) Large oceangoing ships turn very slowly, which can be frustrating to someone accustomed to speeding around on nimble watercraft. Those eagerly watching for progress on climate change can relate. Every year, another batch of stats on greenhouse gas emissions comes in, and we’re left to wonder whether we’re turning things around yet. This year’s update was just published as part of the Global Carbon…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1628651

2019-12-06 Comments Off

Online freedom of expression hits a ten-year low Boing Boing

Dec 062019

Pam Cowburn from Article 19 writes, “Our new report shows that digital freedom of expression – defined as our ability to speak freely online – is at a ten year low. The report states that this decline is due to a rise in digital authoritarianism with governments taking control of internet infrastructure, increasing online surveillance and controlling content.” The core threats that are contributing to the decline in digital freedom of expression are: * Internet…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/05/xpa.html

2019-12-06 Comments Off

Edward Snowden: If I Came Back to the U.S., I Would Likely Die in Prison for Telling the Truth Democracy Now!

Dec 062019

The Right Livelihood Awards celebrated their 40th anniversary Wednesday at the historic Cirkus Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where more than a thousand people gathered to celebrate this year’s four laureates: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Chinese women’s rights lawyer Guo Jianmei, Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, the Yanomami Hutukara Association; and Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. The Right…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/edward_snowden_amy_goodman_interview_sweden

2019-12-06 Comments Off

What the Gentrification of Baltimore’s Chinatown Means CityLab | All Articles

Dec 062019

The remains of Baltimore’s once-thriving Chinatown are now so sparse that most who venture into the city might not realize it’s there. All but one Chinese restaurant along Park Avenue, the historic core of Chinatown, have closed, leaving behind deteriorating facades with the Eastern-architectural touches that have become synonymous with Chinatowns worldwide.Yet after several decades of neglect, a renewed vibrancy has emerged: Many of the ornate facades have been supplemented with Ethiopian flags and Amharic…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/12/baltimore-development-chinatown-history-ethiopian-community/602941/?utm_source=feed

2019-12-06 Comments Off

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