2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021. — #20yrsago Ed Felten’s new “Freedom to Tinker” blog https://freedom-to-tinker.com/ #20yrsago CEA regrets the DMCA but fails to oppose DMCA successor https://web.archive.org/web/20020805010423/http://news.com.com/2100-1023-947729.html #15yrsago French kid who translated Potter 7 faces charges https://memex.craphound.com/2007/08/10/french-kid-who-translated-potter-7-faces-charges/

Rescuing contracts from sprawling garbage legalese novellas masquerading as “agreements.” — Every time I click through one of those garbage legalese novellas you’re expected to say “I Agree” to before doing something totally normal and inconsequential, I’m reminded of the legendary Lenny Bruce bit “Eat, Sleep and Crap.” http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=24181 In this bit, all civilization begins with agreements:

2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021. — #20yrsago Get Your Exx On https://web.archive.org/web/20020813140423/http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war13.html #15yrsago Alice in Sunderland: the weirdest graphic novel I’ve ever enjoyed https://memex.craphound.com/2007/08/09/alice-in-sunderland-the-weirdest-graphic-novel-ive-ever-enjoyed/ #15yrsago CBC blogging policy isn’t their policy https://web.archive.org/web/20071017093732/http://www.insidethecbc.com/blogrules2

On the joys of writing to find your people, rather than pleasing a hypothetical audience. — This week on my podcast, I read “So You’ve Decided to Unfollow Me,” my Medium describing the joys of writing to attract the audience of people who want to read what you want to write. https://doctorow.medium.com/so-youve-decided-to-unfollow-me-7452c96b4772 I’ve been blogging for more than 20 years, but I’ve been writing for publication…

2002, 2012, 2017, 2021. — #20yrsago Internet Radio tax created to kill small webcasters and eliminate competition https://web.archive.org/web/20020802201718/http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/062402/index.asp #20yrsago Webcams and life in the panopticon http://www.drive-thru.org/#85305317 #10yrsago Doonesbury has a new protagonist https://web.archive.org/web/20120802160523/https://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/07/31/609031/doonesbury/

2007, 2012, 2017, 2021. — #15yrsago BBC podcast: what’s the future of the BBC’s archive? https://web.archive.org/web/20120807022406/http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2007/08/backstage_podca.html #15yrsago Original proposal for William Gibson’s Spook Country http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promos/WG_Proposal._V32619082_.pdf #10yrsago Wild stuff they’ll teach in Louisiana’s publicly funded charter schools https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/08/photos-evangelical-curricula-louisiana-tax-dollars/…

“For your protection.” — “Innovation” has become a curseword, thanks to…innovation. Some of the world’s most imaginative, best-funded sociopaths have spent decades innovating ways to fuck you over. While the whole tech sector likes to get in on this game, no one “innovates” like inkjet printer companies. Printer companies are true fuckery pioneers: the…

Content moderation is a security problem. in·fo·sec (/ˈinfōˌsek/): information security co·mo (/koh-moh/): content moderation Content moderation is really, really hard. Content moderators: seek to set conversational norms, steering transgressors toward resources that help them better understand the local conversational rules; respond to complaints from users about uncivil, illegal, deceptive or…

2012, 2017, 2021. — #10yrsago Neal Stephenson’s Some Remarks, a remarkable essay collection https://memex.craphound.com/2012/08/07/neal-stephensons-some-remarks-a-remarkable-essay-collection/ #10yrsago If Hemingway (and Shakespeare, and co) were coders http://byfat.xxx/if-hemingway-wrote-javascript #5yrsago Amazon is the poster child for everything wrong with post-Reagan anti-trust enforcement https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox