Bite the Hand that Bores You

Two already doing it; three more by the end of the month. They identify location to within a few meters; smoothing algorithms can turn this into a path through the venue.

The technology can tell when people enter a shopping centre, what stores they visit, how long they remain there, and what route they take as they walked around.

They indicate but do not identify; that is, a signal is unique but not (yet) connected to identifying personal data, they claim. However, they use the IMEI of the handset to index users, and that provides a pivot into unique identification, which the reporter failed to be horrified at:

In the case of Gunwharf Quays, managers were surprised to discover that an unusually high percentage of visitors were German - the receivers can tell in which country each phone is registered - which led to the management translating the instructions in the car park.

How fortunate for those German tourists, who now have parking instructions in their native language. Technology is great!

Via Times Online.

Today is a glorious day. It’s 85 degrees - in the city! - and the Republican plan to close 50 state parks (but save no money doing so) was defeated. Oh, and we’ve peeled back another layer of bigotry: we’re finally allowing that fags are people too.

We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians,whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.
. . .

Under these circumstances, we cannot find that retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest. Accordingly, we conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional.

(California Supreme Court case S147999)

Tomorrow may see me weeping, but today I am granting myself the luxury of believing that my fellow citizens are essentially decent people and that there will be no state-wide effort, encouraged from the national level as a divisive issue in the election, to modify the Constitution via California’s direct plebescite*. No one would actually intentionally add bigotry to the constitution, right? Right?

* Democracy is the belief that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H L Mencken

Photos of Chicken John filing his candidacy for Mayor of San Francisco.

Remember, A Vote for Chicken is a Vote For Crossing The Road to a Future of Arts and Innovation.

This’ll go on my motorcycle jacket. The creator is an artist who is doing a lovely comic book of Orwell’s 1984. The first two chapters are done and available in black and white as well as color on his web site.

*Schwarzenegger opens at No. 1, poll shows*
_USA Today_ headline, 11 August 2003

First we had Reagan. Now, we’ve got his co-star, Bonzo, in a suit and taking on the evildoors. Next, Arnie in California! The re-election campaign is already written–don’t think about it. Gods, I hope I don’t have to field any questions about *this* on this trip.

Yet another thing I’m called upon to explain frequently in Greece and Turkey–and one I feel qualified to, unlike how the perennial “How did your country elect George Bush?” — is, “What the heck is up with this PFC Jessica Lynch?”

The facts: The ‘PFC’ means “Private, First Class”. In other words, lowest of the low. She didn’t even make NCO (I didn’t know that was possible for a white girl). Her sole roles in the Iraq conflict were to be captured after the rest of her unit was killed, and to endanger more American lives by necessitating a rescue mission. Depending on what report you read, she may not have even fired her weapon as her unit was attacked. (She’s not sure.) Yet on her return to the States, she’s been lauded as a hero–people she doesn’t know lined the five-mile return to her home from the airport, with banners and cheering.

In other countries, you see, they have real heroes who actually did something. Something other than screw up, I mean. So they’re understandably curious why Americans are so proud of their “Jessi”. (I think it’s because of a slight resemblance to ex-Princess Diana).

Was a day you could email president@whitehouse.gov. Try it now, and you’ll get an automated email explaining that from now on, you must use the white house’s web site to indulge your democratic tendencies.

Doing so requires navigating seven web pages, including a required one where you indicate whether you agree or disagree with American policy. That’s it–yes or no; that’s as much as the White House wants to know.

The misnamed “Patriot Act” (The full name is “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001“, which is a mouthful of doublespeak if I’ve heard one) was rushed through Congress while our nation spent months milling around and tying miniature American flags to their SUVs. It expands government ability to monitor citizens by a degree heretofore unimaginable. (Have you joined the ACLU yet?)

Specifically, it requires libraries and bookstores to give up to Federal agents all records relating the book borrowing and purchasing habits of any citizen. And what does the FBI have to do to get a list of every book you’ve read in the last ten years? Ask for it.

That’s right. Agents may acquire a warrant from a secret Federal court. This court has no oversight and is not required to release any information, even general statistics, about warrants it issues. Agents need not even show that you are suspected of a crime; they don’t have to present any evidence at all. Further, librarians are forbidden to alert patrons to the fact that they are being observed. In addition to the books you’ve read, the Act gives access to any electronic communication you engage in within the library–any email you send or read; any web sites you visit.

The American Library Association observantly asserts that this is blatantly immoral and unconstitutional. They passed a motion recommending that all American libraries institute a policy of destroying all records as soon as they are no longer needed. The San Francisco Public Library complied immediately–in fact, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors went one step further and passed a motion stating that they officially oppose these provisions of the Act.

I’ve heard that the Berkeley library has decided to follow a procedure similar to that of the SFPL, but I don’t have any hard evidence either way.

Perhaps you should speak to your local librarian and find out what their policy is?

Christopher Albritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter, flew to Turkey and evaded border guards to get into Iraq. He’s now in and around Kirkuk, a city the occupying peshmergas have declared off limits to journalists. He has some fantastic pictures and interviews with Iraqi Kurds on his web site which he updates frequently via satphone.

He relates talking to one peshmergas commander:

He is reporting real news and talking to real people in Iraqi Kurdistan. What a fascinating concept — I wonder if anyone has told CNN, AP, or the BBC about this idea!