Faulty Data and the Arar Case. Maher Arar is a Syrian-born Canadian citizen. On September 26, 2002, he tried to fly from Switzerland to Toronto. Changing planes in New York, he was detained by the U.S. authorities, and eventually shipped to Syria where he was tortured. He's 100% innocent. (Background here.) The Canadian government has… Continue reading Faulty Data and the Arar Case

FCC to take on Net Neutrality. The FCC is apparently planning to adopt a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on network neutrality. An NOI is an informational proceeding, in which the agency asks questions but doesn't propose any rules. I'm concerned that this is an attempt to dissipate some of the pressure for nondiscrimination… Continue reading FCC to take on Net Neutrality

Losing the war on civilization. The legislation that passed the senate yesterday, which legalizes torture, suspends habeas corpus, strips judicial oversight, and includes war crimes immunity in an effort to turn this proud nation into a Potemkin democracy, is in my opinion the saddest moment of our national history post-9/11. My favorite analyses: New York… Continue reading Losing the war on civilization

Peter Saint-Andre: Be Open. Linux.com talked with Linus Torvalds about GPLv3, resulting in the following reflections: At any rate, Torvalds says that he would probably decline to participate because of his dislike of committees. “I don't think committees ever make any sense at all, and I hate meetings. I have a belief that committees tend… Continue reading Peter Saint-Andre: Be Open

Personal KM in the Organization. I've puttered around the edges of knowledge management over the years. I must admit that my interest has always been in personal knowledge management more so than capital-K, capital-M knowledge management. Dave Pollard has a tremendous post today called “The PK-enabled Organization,” that pulls together a personal knowledge management (PKM)… Continue reading Personal KM in the Organization

Campfire: Flare joins Pyro. Aside from my email app, Pyro is the only other app I have open all day. Pyro is the specialized Mac OS X web browser for Campfire. Windows people haven’t had an equivalent. Until now. Today Matt Brindley offers up Flare. Among other specializations, Flare changes the tray icon color to… Continue reading Campfire: Flare joins Pyro

Server hardening Guide. For those of you at TechEd – here's a copy of the SBS Server Hardening guide — 1.   Kill off Windows 98s, seriously, get rid of them in your network.2.   Use Passphrases, don't stick them on sticky notes, hide them!3.   Ensure you keep up to date on Patching – get that green… Continue reading Server hardening Guide

Seventeen things every freelancer should know. Veteran freelance illustrator Megan Jeffrey lists 17 things she's learned over the 17 years she's been self-employed. Lifehackers will love this bit: Keep Records. It doesn't take that long to jot down your beginning mileage and your ending mileage if you keep a little notebook in your car. And… Continue reading Seventeen things every freelancer should know

WHAT'S NEXT IN IRAQ. US forces are now in a precarious and untenable position in Iraq. The window of opportunity for an easy exit has passed. Three years of fighting an open source insurgency has destroyed Iraq's economy (through systemsdisruption starting in 2004), worn down US commitment/curtailed operational flexibility (the IED marketplace during 2004/05/06), and… Continue reading WHAT'S NEXT IN IRAQ

Smart Dolphins. Allow me to quote the first three paragraphs of that story to provide some background for this unusual comparison. First off, we learn that some dolphins have been trained to keep their pool clean by removing litter in exchange for fish: At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, Kelly the dolphin… Continue reading Smart Dolphins