As a result of some rustication with a local journalist who threatened to out one of the authors, Stuck on the Palmetto, one of the very best, perhaps the 
best, of the local blogs is gone. It's not just closing shop, it seems to have taken its archive with it.
I'll miss it. Please guys, can't you at least leave the archive up? Local historians will want this some day.
(And if you ever want to guest post anonymously or otherwise, let me know…)
Crooks and Liars » Dodd To Filibuster FISA Bill.
It's pretty sad that the nominally Democratic Senate leadership has
I would have hoped that some other Senators would share Dodd's conviction that this issue is worth going to the mat on — one Senator can't keep up a filibuster forever. Three can. Where are the others on this issue?
Thank you Senator Dodd for picking this issue and taking it seriously. (This is Dodd's first filibuster in a 27-year career).
Ron Paul videos really are different. This one, Ron Paul Girl – Register Now, was apparently produced a couple of months ago, but it really is one of the odder videos of the year. And there's many more by the “Ron Paul Girl”.
Dolpnhins win a game. Will wonders never cease…..
Commonly, the UK is the place where US anti-crypto policies get a dry run.
So pay attention to Ross Anderson's UK Crypto Export Duplicity:
Officials promptly did an end-run around this by making regulations to pass into UK law an EU regulation controlling the export of dual-use intangibles (reg 1334/2000), thus in effect defeating the will of parliament with a classic piece of policy laundering. We argued repeatedly at the time that the introduction of such regulations would criminalise many academics – for example if I put a remark on our security mailing list about cryptanalysis and it goes to George at Microsoft via Redmond – and also criminalise many software developers, who use algorithms such as AES much like duct tape. A government peer told me, “Look, dear boy, you can never get laws to fit the boundaries exactly – just trust us and keep proper records.” Officials said that they had no plans whatsoever to use export control laws against academics.
…
Earlier this year I was invited to a meeting at DTI along with folks from the Royal Society and UUK. The officials gleefully announced that they'd realised that academics weren't using the export control procedures and asked our opinion about how we could help them `raise awareness' and `market' their services. I reminded them that they'd promised not to. They denied this to my face. They also claimed that it had always been illegal to export intangibles and that the Act had made no difference. I reminded them that until the Export Control Act was passed they had no sanctions available against someone who exported crypto electronically, as the Export of Goods (Control) Order on which they'd previously relied applied only to physical goods. In fact the whole Act was justified to parliament by this arguement. They denied this to my face – even though I'd sat through the debate in the Lords, in the opposition experts' box.
via Slashdot, this is really funny: Review: Windows XP:
Microsoft have really outdone themselves in delivering a brand new operating system that really excels in all the areas where Vista was sub-optimal. From my testing, discussions with friends and colleagues, and a review of the material out there on the web there seems to be no doubt whatsoever that that upgrade to XP is well worth the money. Microsoft can really pat themselves on the back for a job well done, delivering an operating system which is much faster and far more reliable than its predecessor. Anyone who thinks there are problems in the Microsoft Windows team need only point to this fantastic release and scoff loudly.
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