Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Smarmy Duck and Weave Deposition by Rick Scott (Updated)

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

Fl. Governor Rick Scott doges questions in a 1995 deposition. It sort of encapsulizes a good bit of what is so awful about the guy.

And he hasn’t changed: Scott is still dodging basic questions in 2014. Throw in the content of his policies, and it makes the case for Nan Rich. Pity that the establishment Dems are lining up for the less-odious-by-comparison quondam Republican Charlie Crist. At least Crist picked a great running mate for Lt. Governor: Annette Taddeo. The primary is in about a month.

(The video is from a Democratic Party web commercial. Like Adam C. Smith of the Tampa Bay Times said, they should put it on TV.)

Update: Here he is again, avoiding questions on gay marriage.

Posted in 2014 Election, Florida | 2 Comments

More than 1.3 Million Spams

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

That’s what I got this past year. That’s more than triple the previous year, and more than ten times what I got four years ago.

The level has gotten so great that the blog crashes about once a day; it’s practically a DDOS attack. Something will have to be done — but short of paying for very much more expensive hosting, I’m not at all clear what would be. I use Akismet and a javascript-based test too.

This combination worked fine for a decade. Now I’m getting overwhelmed. Over the past decade, 99.67% of my comments have been spam. I could turn off comments — it’s not like I’m overwhelmed with real ones these days — but I’d hate to do that.

Posted in Discourse.net | 1 Comment

Strategic Planning Made Easy

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

Weird Al to the rescue:

Easy to adapt for any law school.

Bonus points if you can identify the band whose music this plays off.

Mega-bonus points for anyone spotting the first firm to use this at a meeting without irony.

Posted in Completely Different | 1 Comment

Social Cost of Fighting Face Recognition

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

dazzle1It’s large:

Because here is the essence of CV dazzle’s strangeness: The very thing that makes you invisible to computers makes you glaringly obvious to other humans.

via Anti-Surveillance Camouflage for Your Face – The Atlantic.

Posted in Surveillance | Comments Off on Social Cost of Fighting Face Recognition

.ma Meh

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

Dog.ma resolves, but isn’t interesting. Opti.ma is parked, which almost seems appropriate.

Enig.ma doesn’t resolve, which also seems appropriate, and it isn’t available. And neither are mag.ma and dra.ma.

Look.ma exists but is boring.

Ma.ma doesn’t resolve and isn’t available. Nor is Kar.ma.

Nor even meh.ma.

OK, back to work now.

Posted in Internet | Comments Off on .ma Meh

B+

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

I really wanted to like this initial effort from Represent.us more than I did.

It’s a good effort, marred by some sophomoric stuff. Actually, I like the straight pitch better:

I wonder how they will play in Kentucky? Although facially neutral, to the extent they work these ads have to hit the incumbent worse than the challenger.

Posted in 2016 Election | Comments Off on B+