Chris Brunner .com » Technology http://www.chrisbrunner.com Random comments and thoughts of Chris Brunner Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:19:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Why I Might Donate to Obama http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2011/04/11/why-i-might-donate-to-obama/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2011/04/11/why-i-might-donate-to-obama/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:40:33 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=431 Many consumers aren’t really privy to what goes on behind the scenes when people use credit cards.

Well, let me tell you, it’s not pretty. Virtually any time you use your card — regardless of whether it’s a credit card or a debit card that you’re using like a credit card — the merchant gets hit with a substantial fee. There is usually a fee made up of a flat, per transaction fee on the order of $.25 to $35, plus a portion of the transaction, which can be as high as 7% in some cases. (Usually it’s closer to one or two percent, however.)

It’s extremely unlikely that Obama’s campaign is not subject to these fees. So, if someone were to, for example, visit Obama’s donation page, and make a “donation” of one cent, it would actually cost the Obama campaign something like twenty-five cents.

According to their website, each individual is allowed to donate a total of $5,000 per election cycle. (That’s $2,500 for the primary, and $2,500 for the general election.) So, for example, if one were to write a script that “donates” $5,000, one cent at a time, it would result in a net loss of $125,000 for the Obama campaign.

I haven’t done it… I’m just sayin’…

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2011/04/11/why-i-might-donate-to-obama/feed/ 2 TiVo: Review, Links and Resources http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/12/27/tivo-review-links-and-resources/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/12/27/tivo-review-links-and-resources/#comments Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:26:42 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=416 Okay, I know that TiVo has been around for a long time, But…

I was recently looking for a way to watch certain video podcasts on my TV. For the life of me, I couldn’t find a hardware set-top-box that will just play video podcasts on my television.

It seems like such a simple concept, right? It’s just a matter of checking an RSS feed, downloading a video, and playing it. Miro, and several other podcast players, can do it just fine. Why aren’t there any set top boxes out there that are capable of such a seemingly-easy task? I searched high and low to no avail.

That is, until I learned that the new versions of TiVo support video podcasts. It was on. I immediately went out an bought two — one for my living room, and one for my bedroom. (Video podcast support wasn’t the only reason, read on.) They were less than $100 each from Best Buy!

So, as with anything in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to using a TiVo in lieu of your cable-company-supplied set top box. Some of them are:

Con’s
– Monthly service fee ($10 to $20/mo depending on your luck)
– Requires a CableCARD from the cable company (almost free, no big deal)
– TiVo doesn’t support the cable company’s On Demand service (again, no big deal. Keep reading.)

Pro’s
– Video podcast support
– Multi-room (record in one room, watch in another)
– Built-in Netflix On Demand
– Built-in Blockbuster On Demand
– Built-in Amazon On Demand
– Much better High Definition user interface
– Much better, and unified search logic

Regarding the unified search logic, let me give you an example. My parents are in town from Raleigh, NC for Christmas. My father watches It’s a Wonderful Life every single year. Even though I have almost all of the premium options from my cable company, it wasn’t available from them. However, once I hooked up my TiVo, I found that it was available from Amazon On Demand. TiVo’s search includes all of the internet-based options, in addition to what’s available on TV. So, a few remote-control clicks later, we were watching.

There are lots of features I haven’t played with yet, but I very much like what I’ve seen so far. I will add an update once I’ve had a chance to test everything out.

Two features I wish TiVo had:
– DLNA support for NAS devices on my LAN, like my Samsung Blu-Ray players have (or at least Linux support for this feature)
– Flickr support — Picasa and Photobucket but no Flickr? Very lame.

I’ll add the related links and resources I’ve found when I come back to update this post after I’ve had a chance to test everything. More coming soon…

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/12/27/tivo-review-links-and-resources/feed/ 0 Code Bounties: An Explanation http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/11/30/code-bounties/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/11/30/code-bounties/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 04:05:42 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=393 For many years, I’ve told myself that if I ever had the money, I’d start creating bounties for the purpose of improving the software available to the Open Source community.

That day has come, and for this just purpose, I’ve created a new “Bounties” section of my blog.

My posted bounties will always be reachable at: http://bounties.chrisbrunner.com/

Here’s how it works:

1. I have an idea for a piece of software, or if I find an annoying bug that I know affects others.

2. Rather than waiting around, and doing nothing to improve the situation, I will create a bounty. Bounties will be posted in this new category, and I will probably also tweet them.

For example, I may post something like, “$200 to the first person who can fix this bug,” along with a link to the bug report.

3. If you see a bounty that you would like to take on, post a comment to let myself and others know that you’ve started working on it.

4. Once the piece of code, application, or bug fix is complete, I will immediately send you the money and announce in my post that the bounty has been awarded to you.

Watch bounties.chrisbrunner.com closely or subscribe to my Bounty RSS feed for the first bounty! Good luck!

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/11/30/code-bounties/feed/ 0 Livestation: For people who want real news http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/10/28/livestation-for-people-who-want-real-news/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/10/28/livestation-for-people-who-want-real-news/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:05:29 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=389 First of all, I’d like to note that all news sources, including these, are biased to some degree.

With that said, it’s often nice to get views of what’s going on in the world that aren’t directly influenced by the US government.

For that, there is Livestation.

It free, and it’s cross-platform. So, it works just fine on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Livestation carries the following channels (among others), each which offer a new take on world events:

  • Al Jazeera English
  • RT
  • Press TV
  • BBC World Service
  • France 24
  • CNN International

It’s worth checking out. You should go download it.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/10/28/livestation-for-people-who-want-real-news/feed/ 1 Encyclopedia Dramatica and One World Government http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/21/encyclopedia-dramatica-and-one-world-government/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/21/encyclopedia-dramatica-and-one-world-government/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:46:30 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=377 I have no idea how I stumbled upon this, but I found it very interesting.

For the sake of context, Encyclopedia Dramatica is, without question, one of the top five least-sane websites on the Internet, in terms of its content. Figuring out exactly what it is, and why, is an exercise that I will leave to you.

Anyway, this is the blog post I found. It’s by Joseph Evers, the founder of ED.

For those unaware, Encyclopedia Dramatica has been in a lot of trouble in Australia lately. First ED was placed on the ACMA blacklist, a “secret” list of websites to be censored throughout Australia in their upcoming internet filter. After this list was leaked to the public, we all laughed about how we were put on a blacklist with “Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions, Christian sites, and even the websites of a tour operator and a Queensland dentist“. Meanwhile, Australia Communications Minister Stephen Conroy called for the arrests of Australians publishing the list.

So here’s the deal. This is an initial investigation into charging me, personally, with the violation of Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act. While I act in complete compliance with both the civil and criminal codes of the United States of America, and am assured the right of free speech according to our Constitution (which, if not the greatest political document in the entire history of law, is certainly on the top five) I can personally be jailed and fined for the violation of this law. Check out the court precedent they cite, Dow Jones & Co Inc v Gutnick, where a United States paper had to pay 580k for publishing an article about a globalized company headquartered in Australia and its CEO whilst completely in compliance with United States civil precedence. This isn’t a far-fetched legal theory, they have used it before. Welcome to the one world government, folks. Is this what you wanted? Is this what you had in mind? Cause this is what you’re gettin’.

Encyclopedia Dramatica will never be censored in any way. We will keep publishing this content and our Australian users will be able to view it up until the point that your God-forsaken government blocks it with their soon-to-be-implemented secret list of banned material. ACMA’s child pornography blacklist is only one half child pornography. The rest is religious and political speech. You really want Soviet-style communism as your future? I know some people that had to escape from the GDR. Many of your children will be in that position. The house of cards is about to come down, and they’re making sure your mouths are taped shut first. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

My counsel has advised me that I can never under any circumstances visit my family in Sydney again, nor otherwise make any appearances on Australian soil. Here’s to the hidden cost of freedom.

Scary. I’ve only been to ED a few times in my life, but their content has nothing to do with the issue at hand. I applaud Joseph for refusing to censor his wiki site, and I find this trend of global cooperation among pro-censorship bureaucracies incredibly chilling.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/21/encyclopedia-dramatica-and-one-world-government/feed/ 0 Ubuntu Linux External Display Issues on the ThinkPad T410s http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/20/ubuntu-linux-external-display-issues-on-the-thinkpad-t410s/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/20/ubuntu-linux-external-display-issues-on-the-thinkpad-t410s/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:36:03 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=374 I had a hell of a time finding a solution to this, so I figured I’d post the solution I found here for anyone else who happens to want to run Ubuntu on a ThinkPad T410s with an external display.

Symptoms:
– If you manage to get your external display working at all, it matches your laptop’s internal display resolution

Solution:
1. Upgrade your BIOS
2. In your new BIOS settings, change it to always use Discrete Graphics
3. Boot back into Ubuntu
4. Run nvidia-xconfig (assuming you’ve already installed the proprietary drivers)
5. Reboot

That’s it. Should work fine now.

As simple as it sounds, that took almost all day to figure out. Good luck.

After you do this, you may discover that your external display goes blank when you shut your laptop lid. The solution can be found in this thread on the Ubuntu forums.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/20/ubuntu-linux-external-display-issues-on-the-thinkpad-t410s/feed/ 0 Gmail Compose Bookmarklet http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/11/gmail-compose-bookmarklet/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/11/gmail-compose-bookmarklet/#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:44:28 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=368 If you use Gmail for everything, as I do, you probably wish you had a way to create a “Compose” button that saves you from having to go to Gmail in a new browser tab, and let it load, before you compose a new message.

There is an easy way to do this.

Simply drag this link into your bookmark toolbar:
Gmail Compose

Credit goes to hackaddict.net.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/11/gmail-compose-bookmarklet/feed/ 0 Schedule Email to be Sent Later with Gmail http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/10/schedule-email-to-be-sent-later-with-gmail/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/10/schedule-email-to-be-sent-later-with-gmail/#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:04:13 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=361 Ever wanted to schedule an email to be sent at a later time or date?

Gmail doesn’t support this natively, but a Firefox addon called Boomerang adds the functionality.

UPDATE: I’m not sure how long this will last, but here’s a direct download link so that you don’t have to wait for an invite code. Click here for Firefox and here for Chrome.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/10/schedule-email-to-be-sent-later-with-gmail/feed/ 0 SMEstorage http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/07/smestorage/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/07/smestorage/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:15:36 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=359 Sadly, I don’t have much time to write about this in detail right now, but it’s worth noting that if you use *any* cloud storage services, SMEstorage is worth checking out.

It does a lot of different things, but a big part of what makes it useful for me is that it allows you to mount any of your cloud storage services as a local part of your OS — even if you’re using Linux or OS X. That’s really, really useful.

In addition, there are mobile clients for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry.

You really need to see this.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/07/smestorage/feed/ 0 Long live TinyXP! http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/02/long-live-tinyxp/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/02/long-live-tinyxp/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:37:42 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=356 If you *must* run Windows, instead of Linux or OS X, this is the version you should be running.

TinyXP is XP with all of the wasteful crap stripped out.

For details, see this blog post.

To download, go here or here, depending on what you want.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/09/02/long-live-tinyxp/feed/ 0 There are PLENTY of IP Addresses!! http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/25/there-are-plenty-of-ip-addresses/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/25/there-are-plenty-of-ip-addresses/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:33:43 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=348 If you follow CNN, you’re almost certainly already aware that, due to a shortage of IP addresses, “the internet might stop working.”

I just wanted to take a moment to make three quick points:

1) The Internet is not going to stop working when we run out of IP addresses. In fact, that whole idea is incomprehensibly dumb.

2) There are PLENTY of IP addresses!!

Okay, get this… There are fewer than 300 million internet users in the world. There are over 4 BILLION IPv4 addresses.

Get it? There are plenty of addresses. The problem is not the number of addresses. The problem is that the crackheads assigning them don’t care whether or not they end up being utilized. What an incredible (and expensive) waste.

3) There is a very simple solution to this that doesn’t involve spending billions of dollars on forcing the world to move to IPv6 before it’s ready:

ARIN should just start reclaiming unused IP blocks.

It’s that simple. It really is.

Ping each IP address, and if there’s no response, check a few ports.

Use that data to create a utilization metric for each IP block.

If the IP block is underutilized, or not used at all, simply recover part or all of the IP block for someone else to use.

That’s it. That’s all that has to be done.

People are idiots.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/25/there-are-plenty-of-ip-addresses/feed/ 1 Panasonic VIERA TV’s have built-in Skype http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/18/panasonic-viera-tvs-have-built-in-skype/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/18/panasonic-viera-tvs-have-built-in-skype/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:41:33 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/?p=338 I think this is really cool. I know this could easily be done by hooking a PC up to the TV, but the integration is really slick.

Panasonic VIERA Skype

UPDATE: Be sure to read the Amazon reviews before you decide to buy this thing.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/07/18/panasonic-viera-tvs-have-built-in-skype/feed/ 0 Scammers taking over Facebook? http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/02/24/scammers-taking-over-facebook/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/02/24/scammers-taking-over-facebook/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:21:54 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/02/24/scammers-taking-over-facebook/ Check out the Facebook chat I just had:

(03:28:00 AM) Andrew Hayes: hello
(03:28:12 AM) Andrew Hayes: how are you doing?
(03:28:57 AM) Chris Brunner: a little tired, you?
(03:29:13 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am not good at the moment
i am in a deep mess and i need your help
(03:30:34 AM) Chris Brunner: What can I do?
(03:31:42 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am stuck in London Got mugged at gunpoint
(03:32:15 AM) Chris Brunner: That’s horrible
(03:33:06 AM) Chris Brunner: I’m sorry to hear that
(03:33:33 AM) Andrew Hayes: all cash on me was stolen including cell phone and credit card
(03:33:50 AM) Andrew Hayes: i was injured…little bruises on my neck
(03:34:10 AM) Chris Brunner: is this a joke?
(03:34:50 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am really serious
(03:35:00 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am just freaked out
(03:35:19 AM) Chris Brunner: how are you using a computer?
(03:35:38 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am presently in a loocal library
(03:35:48 AM) Chris Brunner: which one?
(03:35:53 AM) Andrew Hayes: i have limited time here!!
(03:36:05 AM) Andrew Hayes: here in London
(03:36:18 AM) Andrew Hayes: i need your help urgently
(03:36:22 AM) Chris Brunner: …
(03:36:57 AM) Chris Brunner: what is it that you’re asking me to do?
(03:37:46 AM) Andrew Hayes: my return flight leaves in few hours time
(03:38:28 AM) Andrew Hayes: i am having problems settling the hotel i checked into and getting a cab to the airport
(03:38:54 AM) Chris Brunner: what can I do?
(03:40:17 AM) Andrew Hayes: i need you to loan me some money to sort my hotel bills and get a cab to the airport
(03:41:41 AM) Chris Brunner: sure, no problem. just get any of our mutual friends to vouch for your character and I will happily loan you cash via western union or moneygram
(03:42:26 AM) Andrew Hayes: you are all i got at the moment
(03:42:46 AM) Andrew Hayes: to help me out
(03:43:14 AM) Chris Brunner: of our mutual friends, whose phone number do you need? I will wake them up.
(03:43:28 AM) Chris Brunner: I know most of them personally
(03:43:35 AM) Andrew Hayes: i don’t have access to phone
(03:43:46 AM) Chris Brunner: surely someone in the library has a cell phone
(03:43:58 AM) Andrew Hayes: the muggers stole away my phone like i told u ealier
(03:44:05 AM) Chris Brunner: I will call you on that phone, and conference in a mutual friend who can vouch for you
(03:45:19 AM) Andrew Hayes: there is no phone in the library
(03:45:19 AM) Andrew Hayes: there is no phone in the library
(03:45:35 AM) Andrew Hayes: besides it is a local one!!
(03:45:50 AM) Chris Brunner: so? I will pay the international toll. it’s an emergency, right?
(03:46:42 AM) Andrew Hayes: yeah
(03:47:02 AM) Chris Brunner: okay, then give me the number to any phone in london where I can call you, and conference in a mutual friend.
(03:47:09 AM) Andrew Hayes: yeah
(03:48:06 AM) Andrew Hayes: are you there??
(03:48:13 AM) Chris Brunner: yes, of course
(03:48:53 AM) Andrew Hayes: i really need your help
(03:49:04 AM) Chris Brunner: I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to help you.
(03:49:46 AM) Andrew Hayes: i have limited time here
(03:50:17 AM) Andrew Hayes: as their computer is even faulty
(03:50:56 AM) Andrew Hayes: all i need from you is a loan of 600$
(03:51:04 AM) Andrew Hayes: to get on my flight
(03:51:09 AM) Andrew Hayes: are you there??
(03:51:13 AM) Chris Brunner: okay, how should I send it?
(03:51:37 AM) Andrew Hayes: all you need is my name and address
(03:51:43 AM) Chris Brunner: okay
(03:52:04 AM) Andrew Hayes: do you know any western union outlet near you?
(03:52:08 AM) Chris Brunner: yes
(03:52:31 AM) Andrew Hayes: how long will it take you to get there?
(03:52:39 AM) Chris Brunner: about ten minutes
(03:52:40 AM) Andrew Hayes: as i have limited time here
(03:52:43 AM) Chris Brunner: but I will try to be fast
(03:53:21 AM) Andrew Hayes: should i give you the info
(03:53:34 AM) Andrew Hayes: you will need in sending the money?
(03:53:38 AM) Chris Brunner: yes. I will write it down
(03:53:53 AM) Andrew Hayes: Name:Andrew Hayes
(03:55:13 AM) Chris Brunner: okay
(03:55:23 AM) Chris Brunner: don’t I need the address?
(03:55:48 AM) Andrew Hayes: Location: 30 Leicester Square. City, London. Country, United Kingdom
(03:55:53 AM) Andrew Hayes: got it?
(03:56:01 AM) Chris Brunner: got it.
(03:56:09 AM) Andrew Hayes: ok
(03:56:23 AM) Andrew Hayes: can you please leave now?
(03:56:57 AM) Andrew Hayes: ??
(03:57:03 AM) Andrew Hayes: ??
(03:57:41 AM) Chris Brunner: yes, I’m leaving now
(03:57:51 AM) Andrew Hayes: ok
(03:58:31 AM) Andrew Hayes: are you there?
(03:58:41 AM) Andrew Hayes: i will be online waiting
(03:58:55 AM) Chris Brunner: wait, is it 600 USD or 600 pounds?
(03:59:26 AM) Andrew Hayes: pounds
(03:59:35 AM) Chris Brunner: okay
(04:01:15 AM) Andrew Hayes: are you still there?
(04:06:04 AM) Andrew Hayes: are you there??
(04:10:04 AM) Andrew Hayes: ??
(04:10:40 AM) Andrew Hayes: ??
(04:15:48 AM) Andrew Hayes: ??

Obviously, this is a scam. I’m guessing Andrew’s Facebook account was hacked. So, I called the London police and told them where the scammer will be trying to pick up the money that I didn’t send.

Facebookers beware.

If this happens to one of your friends, here’s the link to report it.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/02/24/scammers-taking-over-facebook/feed/ 1 Google Gears XPI Download http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/01/20/google-gears-xpi-download/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/01/20/google-gears-xpi-download/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:23:31 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/01/20/google-gears-xpi-download/ Are you trying to download and install Google Gears in Mozilla Prism using these or these instructions?

If so, you may have run into trouble finding the correct URLs for the Google Gears XPI. Let me help:

Linux: http://dl.google.com/gears/current/gears-linux-opt.xpi
Mac: http://dl.google.com/gears/current/gears-osx-opt.xpi

Enjoy.

]]> http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2010/01/20/google-gears-xpi-download/feed/ 1 Which 3G Network is the Fastest? http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/10/24/which-3g-network-is-the-fastest/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/10/24/which-3g-network-is-the-fastest/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:45:41 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/10/24/which-3g-network-is-the-fastest/ I’ve seen dozens of reports from various blogs and online news sites about which 3G network is faster. They all seem to have different results, and they areas that they test in are always extremely limited. So, I figured I would try to find test results from the most popular mobile speed test I know of — DSLreports.com.

Sure enough, they do publish the results. Here they are:

  • Sprint – 485.7 Kbps with 320ms of latency
  • Verizon – 473.9 Kbps with 530ms of latency
  • AT&T – 472.8 Kbps with 620ms of latency
  • T-Mobile – 360.9 Kbps with 580ms of latency

    • The difference between average speeds is marginal, but the lower latency that Sprint offers probably makes a huge difference.

    I know people are going to post comments about how skewed these results are for all kinds of reasons, and they’ll be mostly right, but in the grand scheme of things, I’d be willing to bet that these results are more accurate than any one review that only surveys speeds in two or three states at a time.

    Feel free to leave comments with your own experiences.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/10/24/which-3g-network-is-the-fastest/feed/ 0     Why is Health Care So Damn Expensive? http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/08/09/why-is-health-care-so-damn-expensive/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/08/09/why-is-health-care-so-damn-expensive/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:00:55 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/08/09/why-is-health-care-so-damn-expensive/ Stefan Molyneux does a fantastic job of explaining exactly why. It all boils down to the government-enforced monopoly that is the AMA. This is a must watch for anyone who has any interest in the current health care debate.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/08/09/why-is-health-care-so-damn-expensive/feed/ 0     How the US Media SHOULD Be http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/23/how-the-us-media-should-be/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/23/how-the-us-media-should-be/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:57:35 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/23/how-the-us-media-should-be/ If you get all of your news from media outlets in the US, you're totally missing out. Podcast clients like Miro make it not only possible, but very easy, and very convenient, to get on-demand news from around the world. You pick and choose your content sources, and episodes just download automatically. I see content every day that I would never, ever see from the US media. One example from just a few minutes ago is this two-part interview between Josh Rushing and Michael Mullen about the US military strategy in Afghanistan. Just ask yourself while you watch: "Would anyone in the American mainstream media ever dare ask questions like this?" I will list the RSS URLs of some of my content picks in case you're interested in checking it out for yourself:

    • Al Jazeera English 
      • Feed URL
      • Nationality: Qatari
      • Description: One of the three largest English-language news channels worldwide.  It's a 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
    • Russia Today
      • Feed URL
      • Nationality: Russian
      • Description: Also known as RT, is a globally broadcast English-language news channel from Russia, and the first all-digital Russian TV channel.
    • Press TV
      • Feed URL
      • Nationality: Iranian
      • Description: An English language international television news channel, based in Tehran.  It has 26 international correspondents and more than 500 staff around the world.

    These are just three out of about thirty content sources that I receive video from daily.  If you have one that you feel should be listed here, let me know.  Or, if you want to see my list of Technology or Libertarian content sources, let me know.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/23/how-the-us-media-should-be/feed/ 0     The Right to Read http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/18/the-right-to-read/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/18/the-right-to-read/#comments Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:43:59 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/18/the-right-to-read/ by Richard Stallman

    For Dan Halbert, the road to Tycho began in college—when Lissa Lenz asked to borrow his computer. Hers had broken down, and unless she could borrow another, she would fail her midterm project. There was no one she dared ask, except Dan.

    This put Dan in a dilemma. He had to help her—but if he lent her his computer, she might read his books. Aside from the fact that you could go to prison for many years for letting someone else read your books, the very idea shocked him at first. Like everyone, he had been taught since elementary school that sharing books was nasty and wrong—something that only pirates would do.

    And there wasn’t much chance that the SPA—the Software Protection Authority—would fail to catch him. In his software class, Dan had learned that each book had a copyright monitor that reported when and where it was read, and by whom, to Central Licensing. (They used this information to catch reading pirates, but also to sell personal interest profiles to retailers.) The next time his computer was networked, Central Licensing would find out. He, as computer owner, would receive the harshest punishment—for not taking pains to prevent the crime.

    Of course, Lissa did not necessarily intend to read his books. She might want the computer only to write her midterm. But Dan knew she came from a middle-class family and could hardly afford the tuition, let alone her reading fees. Reading his books might be the only way she could graduate. He understood this situation; he himself had had to borrow to pay for all the research papers he read. (10% of those fees went to the researchers who wrote the papers; since Dan aimed for an academic career, he could hope that his own research papers, if frequently referenced, would bring in enough to repay this loan.)

    Later on, Dan would learn there was a time when anyone could go to the library and read journal articles, and even books, without having to pay. There were independent scholars who read thousands of pages without government library grants. But in the 1990s, both commercial and nonprofit journal publishers had begun charging fees for access. By 2047, libraries offering free public access to scholarly literature were a dim memory.

    There were ways, of course, to get around the SPA and Central Licensing. They were themselves illegal. Dan had had a classmate in software, Frank Martucci, who had obtained an illicit debugging tool, and used it to skip over the copyright monitor code when reading books. But he had told too many friends about it, and one of them turned him in to the SPA for a reward (students deep in debt were easily tempted into betrayal). In 2047, Frank was in prison, not for pirate reading, but for possessing a debugger.

    Dan would later learn that there was a time when anyone could have debugging tools. There were even free debugging tools available on CD or downloadable over the net. But ordinary users started using them to bypass copyright monitors, and eventually a judge ruled that this had become their principal use in actual practice. This meant they were illegal; the debuggers’ developers were sent to prison.

    Programmers still needed debugging tools, of course, but debugger vendors in 2047 distributed numbered copies only, and only to officially licensed and bonded programmers. The debugger Dan used in software class was kept behind a special firewall so that it could be used only for class exercises.

    It was also possible to bypass the copyright monitors by installing a modified system kernel. Dan would eventually find out about the free kernels, even entire free operating systems, that had existed around the turn of the century. But not only were they illegal, like debuggers—you could not install one if you had one, without knowing your computer’s root password. And neither the FBI nor Microsoft Support would tell you that.

    Dan concluded that he couldn’t simply lend Lissa his computer. But he couldn’t refuse to help her, because he loved her. Every chance to speak with her filled him with delight. And that she chose him to ask for help, that could mean she loved him too.

    Dan resolved the dilemma by doing something even more unthinkable—he lent her the computer, and told her his password. This way, if Lissa read his books, Central Licensing would think he was reading them. It was still a crime, but the SPA would not automatically find out about it. They would only find out if Lissa reported him.

    Of course, if the school ever found out that he had given Lissa his own password, it would be curtains for both of them as students, regardless of what she had used it for. School policy was that any interference with their means of monitoring students’ computer use was grounds for disciplinary action. It didn’t matter whether you did anything harmful—the offense was making it hard for the administrators to check on you. They assumed this meant you were doing something else forbidden, and they did not need to know what it was.

    Students were not usually expelled for this—not directly. Instead they were banned from the school computer systems, and would inevitably fail all their classes.

    Later, Dan would learn that this kind of university policy started only in the 1980s, when university students in large numbers began using computers. Previously, universities maintained a different approach to student discipline; they punished activities that were harmful, not those that merely raised suspicion.

    Lissa did not report Dan to the SPA. His decision to help her led to their marriage, and also led them to question what they had been taught about piracy as children. The couple began reading about the history of copyright, about the Soviet Union and its restrictions on copying, and even the original United States Constitution. They moved to Luna, where they found others who had likewise gravitated away from the long arm of the SPA. When the Tycho Uprising began in 2062, the universal right to read soon became one of its central aims.

    Author’s Note

    This note was updated in 2007.

    The right to read is a battle being fought today. Although it may take 50 years for our present way of life to fade into obscurity, most of the specific laws and practices described above have already been proposed; many have been enacted into law in the US and elsewhere. In the US, the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act established the legal basis to restrict the reading and lending of computerized books (and other works as well). The European Union imposed similar restrictions in a 2001 copyright directive. In France, under the DADVSI law adopted in 2006, mere possession of a copy of DeCSS, the free program to decrypt video on a DVD, is a crime.

    In 2001, Disney-funded Senator Hollings proposed a bill called the SSSCA that would require every new computer to have mandatory copy-restriction facilities that the user cannot bypass. Following the Clipper chip and similar US government key-escrow proposals, this shows a long-term trend: computer systems are increasingly set up to give absentees with clout control over the people actually using the computer system. The SSSCA was later renamed to the unpronounceable CBDTPA, which was glossed as the “Consume But Don’t Try Programming Act”.

    The Republicans took control of the US senate shortly thereafter. They are less tied to Hollywood than the Democrats, so they did not press these proposals. Now that the Democrats are back in control, the danger is once again higher.

    In 2001 the US began attempting to use the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty to impose the same rules on all the countries in the Western Hemisphere. The FTAA is one of the so-called “free trade” treaties, which are actually designed to give business increased power over democratic governments; imposing laws like the DMCA is typical of this spirit. The FTAA was effectively killed by Lula, President of Brazil, who rejected the DMCA requirement and others.

    Since then, the US has imposed similar requirements on countries such as Australia and Mexico through bilateral “free trade” agreements, and on countries such as Costa Rica through CAFTA. Ecuador’s President Correa refused to sign the “free trade” agreement, but Ecuador had adopted something like the DMCA in 2003. Ecuador’s new constitution may provide an opportunity to get rid of it.

    One of the ideas in the story was not proposed in reality until 2002. This is the idea that the FBI and Microsoft will keep the root passwords for your personal computers, and not let you have them.

    The proponents of this scheme have given it names such as “trusted computing” and “palladium”. We call it “treacherous computing”, because the effect is to make your computer obey companies instead of you. This was implemented in 2007 as part of Windows Vista; we expect Apple to do something similar. In this scheme, it is the manufacturer that keeps the secret code, but the FBI would have little trouble getting it.

    What Microsoft keeps is not exactly a password in the traditional sense; no person ever types it on a terminal. Rather, it is a signature and encryption key that corresponds to a second key stored in your computer. This enables Microsoft, and potentially any web sites that cooperate with Microsoft, the ultimate control over what the user can do on his own computer.

    Vista also gives Microsoft additional powers; for instance, Microsoft can forcibly install upgrades, and it can order all machines running Vista to refuse to run a certain device driver. The main purpose of Vista’s many restrictions is to make DRM that users can’t overcome.

    The SPA, which actually stands for Software Publisher’s Association, has been replaced in this police-like role by the BSA or Business Software Alliance. It is not, today, an official police force; unofficially, it acts like one. Using methods reminiscent of the erstwhile Soviet Union, it invites people to inform on their coworkers and friends. A BSA terror campaign in Argentina in 2001 made slightly-veiled threats that people sharing software would be raped.

    When this story was first written, the SPA was threatening small Internet service providers, demanding they permit the SPA to monitor all users. Most ISPs surrendered when threatened, because they cannot afford to fight back in court. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Oct 96, D3.) At least one ISP, Community ConneXion in Oakland CA, refused the demand and was actually sued. The SPA later dropped the suit, but obtained the DMCA which gave them the power they sought.

    The university security policies described above are not imaginary. For example, a computer at one Chicago-area university prints this message when you log in (quotation marks are in the original):

    This system is for the use of authorized users only. Individuals using this computer system without authority or in the excess of their authority are subject to having all their activities on this system monitored and recorded by system personnel. In the course of monitoring individuals improperly using this system or in the course of system maintenance, the activities of authorized user may also be monitored. Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such monitoring reveals possible evidence of illegal activity or violation of University regulations system personnel may provide the evidence of such monitoring to University authorities and/or law enforcement officials.

    This is an interesting approach to the Fourth Amendment: pressure most everyone to agree, in advance, to waive their rights under it.

    Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/18/the-right-to-read/feed/ 0     Buzz Report: Google OS Special http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/12/buzz-report-google-os-special/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/12/buzz-report-google-os-special/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:22:06 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/12/buzz-report-google-os-special/ I love Molly Wood.

    Click here if you can’t see the video.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/12/buzz-report-google-os-special/feed/ 0     Kary Mullis is a Badass. http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/11/kary-mullis-is-a-badass/ http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/11/kary-mullis-is-a-badass/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:09:05 +0000 Chris Brunner http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/11/kary-mullis-is-a-badass/

    Drug-resistant bacteria kills, even in top hospitals. But now tough infections like staph and anthrax may be in for a surprise. Nobel-winning chemist Kary Mullis, who watched a friend die when powerful antibiotics failed, unveils a radical new cure that shows extraordinary promise.

    Click here if you can’t see the video.

    ]]>     http://www.chrisbrunner.com/2009/07/11/kary-mullis-is-a-badass/feed/ 0