Yearly Archives: 2009

EU Court of Justice Upholds Validity of Data Retention Directive

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

The EU Court of Justice has upheld the validity of the Data Retention Directive (“Directive 2006/24/EC Retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of electronic communications services”) in Ireland v Parliament , decided Feb. 10, 2008.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Internet | 1 Comment

When Trees Reproduce

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

This is the time of year in Florida when I get a very violent allergic reaction to something in the air. When up lived in New England, the allergy season was final exams, which I guess means that it's Spring here now.

There seems, most years, to be a strong correlation between when the mangoes bloom and when I sneeze hard enough to cause damage, but my doctor once assured me that since there aren't any mango plants very near where I live, and I sneeze like crazy in the yard, odds are that it's not mango pollen itself because it is a very heavy grain and doesn't travel that far from the plant. It is, he said, likely to be a tree that pollinates on the same schedule. And indeed, there were not a lot of backyard mangos in New Haven.

But what tree? How to tell?

Weatherbug says “Predominant Pollen: Cedar/Juniper and Bald Cypress.”

But JustWeather.com says the pollen count is “low”. Yah, right.

Weather.com agrees, but adds, “Most active tree pollen types: Oak” (and there's a big live oak in the law school courtyard where my eyes itch and water…hmm…). They also say today's pollen will be worse than yesterday's. Oh joy.

Local Pollen Types for Miami-Dade County, Florida in Winter offers a veritable cornucopia of suspects in the tree category (not mention the grasses and weeds):

Alvaradoa (Alvaradoa)
Avocado, Bay (Persea)
Bayberry (Morella)
Blackbead (Pithecellobium)
Castor-Bean (Ricinus)
Cherry Palm (Pseudophoenix)
Coconut Palm (Cocos)
Coral-Bean (Erythrina)
Elder (Sambucus)
False Sensitive-Plant, Mimosa (Mimosa)
False Willow (Baccharis)
Hercules'-Club, Prickly-Ash, Toothachetree (Zanthoxylum)
Holly (Ilex)
Leadtree (Leucaena)
Mulberry (Morus)
Nettletree (Trema)
Oysterwood (Gymnanthes)
Punktree (Melaleuca)
Royal Palm (Roystonea)
She-Oak (Casuarina)
Soapberry (Sapindus)

Not that knowing would probably do me any good, but I'd still like to know the true name of Nemesis. Meanwhile pass the Fexofenadine.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

Petition for a US Truth Commission

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

The Bush Truth Commission web site, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, invites you to sign their online petition.

Some background at Kos.

Posted in Guantanamo, Politics: US: GW Bush Scandals, Torture | Comments Off on Petition for a US Truth Commission

SFDB Post of the Week

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

sfdb1.jpgI'm more than a little behind on my blog reading, so I've only just discovered that something I wrote was in the running for the South Florida Daily Blog's “SFDB Post Of The Week”. Had I but known, I might have asked readers to stuff the ballot box or something.

But it seems I won.

Oh, wait, the voting is only for “Post of the Month” — so it seems you'll have a chance to do that Miami/Chicago voting thing later.

Posted in Discourse.net | Comments Off on SFDB Post of the Week

Presidential Blackberry Considered Dangerous

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Chris Soghoian's Obama's BlackBerry brings personal safety risks is a fine example of the inspired paranoia of the true security professional.

And, you know…

Posted in National Security | 1 Comment

Is Wikipedia Like Fox News?

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Slashdot, False Fact On Wikipedia Proves Itself:

Germany has a new minister of economic affairs. Mr. von und zu Guttenberg is descended from an old and noble lineage, so his official name is very long: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. When first there were rumors that he would be appointed to the post, someone changed his Wikipedia entry and added the name 'Wilhelm,' so Wikipedia stated his full name as: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Wilhelm Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. What resulted from this edit points up a big problem for our information society (in German; Google translation). The German and international press picked up the wrong name from Wikipedia — including well-known newspapers, Internet sites, and TV news such as spiegel.de, Bild, heute.de, TAZ, or Süddeutsche Zeitung. In the meantime, the change on Wikipedia was reverted, with a request for proof of the name. The proof was quickly found. On spiegel.de an article cites Mr. von und zu Guttenberg using his 'full name'; however, while the quote might have been real, the full name seems to have been looked up on Wikipedia while the false edit was in place. So the circle was closed: Wikipedia states a false fact, a reputable media outlet copies the false fact, and this outlet is then used as the source to prove the false fact to Wikipedia.

Not a reliable source. Of course, a similar thing happens on Fox 'news' all the time, cf. Echo chamber: Bloomberg “commentary” health IT falsehood goes from Limbaugh to WSJ's Moore and Fox, back to Limbaugh, but that's not a reliable source either.

Fox is united by a top-down intent; Wikipedia is plastic and subject to hijack by almost anyone… So Fox is consciously malign, Wikipedia (small-“d”) democratically inept?

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment