Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Hack

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Andrew Cohen, at Bench Conference notes, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales “has achieved in just a few years what many legal scholars and court watchers had presumed impossible: he has made his predecessor, John Ashcroft, seem studious, grave and competent.”

To which I would add, Gonzales makes Aschcroft look non-political too. (I'm thinking of this abusive purge of key US Attorneys — replaced with loyal partisans.)

Worst AG of the past 100 years? It's a fierce competition. Consider John Mitchell and Ed Meese for starters. But there are also a number of great ones on the list.

Posted in Politics: The Party of Sleaze | 2 Comments

I Didn’t Know That SATA II is a Myth

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

The Inq can be educational: There is no such thing as “SATA II drives”, stupid. Once in a while.

P.S. As far as I know UK tech webjournal “The Inquirer” has no relation to the US tabloid journal of that name — other than a bad attitude.

Posted in Sufficiently Advanced Technology | Comments Off on I Didn’t Know That SATA II is a Myth

Please Help Me Debunk Superbowl Tailgate Rumor

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

There’s this rumor going around that I refuse to believe. Please help me debunk it.

The story — related to me at dinner in all seriousness by a serious person who convinced me that he believed it– is that Homeland Security have banned tailgate parties at the Super Bowl, which you may have heard is being held in Miami this year.

I’ve been somewhat distressed to see how meekly Americans put up with ‘security theater’ requirements that restrict their freedoms while adding at best minuscule amounts to actual security. But if the day comes when football fans will give up their tailgate parties due to some diktat from Homeland Security, well, that’s the day that I’ll have to admit beyond peradventure that the people who hate our freedoms have won.

I did a little google search and can’t find anything which suggests such a limit might be in force, which strengthens my belief that this is an urban legend. (I did find some fun debunking of other Super Bowl related urban legends.)

I did find this long list of security restrictions on what you can bring into Dolphin Stadium but I don’t read this as applying to the parking areas where the tailgate parties happen.

Full text of the somewhat Draconian security rules for entrance into the stadium reproduced below. I wonder if the rumor is based on these?

Continue reading →

Posted in Miami, National Security | 18 Comments

Registrar Deletes Domain Name Based on 3rd Party Complaint

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Declan McCullagh has a story about a stealth practice that apparently has been going on for some time, but blew up spectacularly the other day. GoDaddy pulls security site after MySpace complaints. (I'm quoted in the story.)

It seems a registrar has been deleting domain names in response to abuse complaints — mostly spam and child porn — for a long time. But this week their policy took down a legitimate internet security site on the theory it was a hacker haven — and did it with a minute's warning (or maybe an hour's warning, accounts differ).

If GoDaddy is your registrar, you might want to consider how you feel about that.

Posted in Internet | 3 Comments

But Consider the Source

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

This is so nutty that it makes sense, even if was invented at Comedy Central: Absurd Prediction (not?).

Incidentally, I really had no idea what category to file this under. Does anyone even care about categories?

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 6 Comments

Once Again With the Stick

Posted on January 25, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq:

The wide-ranging plan has several influential skeptics in the intelligence community, at the State Department and at the Defense Department who said that they worry it could push the growing conflict between Tehran and Washington into the center of a chaotic Iraq war.

Ya think?

Posted in Iran | Comments Off on Once Again With the Stick