Skyfaller.space

It is now official.   CERT says ditch Internet Explorer for another web browser. Internet Explorer is insecure, and it is no longer being seriously updated, because Microsoft is too busy figuring out how to integrate it with the next release of Windows so that you can NEVER, EVER uninstall it no matter how hard you try. Jobs like fixing bugs or adding new features are simply unimportant when compared to the noble goal of user lock-in.

So what should you use instead of Internet Explorer? Mozilla Firefox Even Microsoft-owned Slate says to use Firefox.

See my review of Firefox on my recommended programs page. It’s kind of outdated, but I’ll work on it soon.

If you have tried Mozilla Firefox and you like it, stick this banner on your blog!

Or get some smaller and less intrusive Firefox buttons for your website.

Can’t get enough of my beautiful voice?  Want to hear me yammer on about Diebold, democracy and free culture for almost an hour?  Then check out my radio spot on RedQuyn’s The Big Picture, on Transitions Radio Network.  The intro is really trippy, but the interview is pretty solid, and I’m slowly cutting down on the “um”s and “y’know?”s.  Maybe I need to go on the “um” patch or get “um” chewing gum or something.

I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the Knowledge Held Hostage conference at UPenn last Friday, and had a wonderful time!  You can see funny pictures of me in a suit, and you can see an article about the conference which mentions the Diebold case at eSchool News online.  Unfortunately, Swarthmore College doesn’t look very good in the article, because in my 5 minute “speech” I was only able to talk about how Swarthmore wimped out at first, not how they were wonderfully supportive afterwards.  I can’t emphasize enough that all of the people in the administration were behind us 100%, but that they were afraid of Diebold suing the college for copyright infringement.

In case you aren’t aware, a copyright infringement lawsuit is one of the few things that can bankrupt a well-endowed college, because of the absurdly high statutory damages possible in a worst-case scenario.  About the only other kind of lawsuit with this power is a class-action medical lawsuit with hundreds and thousands of claimants.  The college’s reaction was therefore understandable; their first duty is to keep the college running for the sake of the students.  However, I believe that they also have a duty to stand up for democracy and freedom of speech, and I think that they were a bit too risk-averse, as I think it was clear from the beginning that Diebold did not have a case.  Naturally this is even more clear in hindsight.

For those who have forgotten, I will be speaking at the Knowledge Held Hostage conference at UPenn tomorrow.  If you don’t already know, it’s probably too late because I’m on the first panel at like 8:30 😛  But it will rock!

Also, if you missed my spot on the Al Franken show, here’s an Ogg Vorbis audio clip of it. 

Winamp should play Oggs fine in Windows, Mac users probably want the Ogg Vorbis Quicktime component, which should let you play Ogg Vorbis in iTunes.

I will be on Air America Radio at 2pm EST on the O’Franken Factor, talking about the Diebold case of course.  A few minutes ago I was on Arnie Arnesen‘s show, which was very enjoyable!  Sorry I didn’t blog about it in time for all y’all to tune in, but hopefully there will be a recording of the show available online.  Thanks again to Mother Jones for spreading the word about us!

Does this article on the free rider problem tell us anything about why our “communist fruit bowl” failed on our hall on Mertz 1st South freshman year?  I definitely remember there being spoiled fruit there often, and it might have been due to our “take a fruit, leave a fruit” policy.

Look at these groovy cross-sections!  I wish I had done something this pretty.  My dad bought a gigantic pro-quality microscope when I was litttle, presumably in hopes of turning me into a scientist/bio major like him.  We found some pretty cool critters under that microscope, especially one time when we looked in some pond water and actually found a rare creature.  It kind of looked like a 2D Brontosaurus without legs, and it moved around by reaching its “head” forward, and then pulling the rest of itself along (if I remember correctly).  Sadly, I ended up being a philosophy major/computer geek and stopped playing with the microscope as I got older, and now I don’t know where it went…. probably in the attic somewhere.

According to this post on Aaron Russo‘s blog (my favorite Libertarian nominee for president), there will be a presidential debate at Swarthmore college on September 28th?

http://russoforpresident.com/batm/index.php/2004/05/24/p311

This will be unbelievably awesome, especially if the two major parties’ candidates come as well as the Libertarians, Nader etc.

I hope Russo wins the Libertarian nomination, his campaign keeps the best blog 🙂  Nolan’s blog is weak.  Russo just did his first audioblog yesterday!  I haven’t even done an audioblog yet….

And yes, I will probably be voting Libertarian in this next election, especially if Russo is nominated.  Russo is very strongly in favor of alternative medicine, which is one of my pet issues (I have never had a drug in my life except for anaesthesia during operations), and he is very strongly against the draft, which is important to me as a Quaker.  My only concern is that since he made his money in Hollywood, he may be opposed to the Free Culture movement.  If he is at Swarthmore on September 28th, I will certainly ask him.

Unfortunately it looks like my parents won’t let me out until I finish writing my 4 overdue papers, which probably means that I won’t be free until Friday night.  Therefore, this Friday, May 21st, I will be holding a GINORMOUS GOING-AWAY PARTY, the day before I fly out to San Francisco to intern with the Electronic Frontier Foundation!  OK, maybe not ginormous… It will be 8pm-1am at my house in Morris Plains, New Jersey.  If you do not know where my house is, e-mail or IM me. 

Everyone who wants to see me before I leave for California is invited, and I’m always open to meeting new people as well, so feel free to bring your friends! (or yourself, if I don’t know you yet)  However, don’t bring them if they have no interest in seeing or meeting me, but just want to help trash my house 😉

If you could help defray the costs of this party by bringing food/drinks/cups/plates, that would make me your friend forever.

This will have to be a stone soup sort of party, since I don’t have time to plan it properly due to my papers.  I’ve asked a couple of friends already to help me think of and implement cool things to do, but the ideal would be for everyone to bring awesome ideas and equipment for having a good time with them.  Then we can just pick whatever seems the coolest!

We have a small yard which is good for more restrained outdoor games, but it is next to a hill, so balls tend to escape down the hill and force people to go fetch them.  If you have musical instruments, bring ’em!  If you have a laptop, bring it, there will be Wi-fi internet, and we can have LAN games!  We should have a TV, so if you want to watch a DVD or play video games, bring your system!  Bring super soakers, nerf guns, whatever floats your boat 🙂

Please rsvp by replying to this post or e-mailing me at nelson at freeculture dot orrg.

Thanks a gazillion!

If you haven’t left Swarthmore yet, talk to Luke about getting one of the Tux armbands we made at the last SCDC meeting!