🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Police Are Still Abusing Investigative Exemptions to Shield Surveillance Tech, While Others Move Towards Transparency | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

- kudos:

Who is allowed to watch the watchmen? This is why I’m grumpy about Lexington being hush hush about its new automated license plate readers—it sets a precedent for secretive use of even more invasive surveillance. link to ‘Police Are Still Abusing Investigative Exemptions to Shield Surveillance Tech, While Others Move Towards Transparency | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Republicans Sharpen Post-Roe Attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights - The New York Times'

- kudos:

Worrying days ahead. There’s a lot being said on Gab that’s spilling out into “mainstream” GOP discourse. link to ‘Republicans Sharpen Post-Roe Attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Rights - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Facebook Is So Sure Its Erroneous Blocking Of Music Is Right, There’s No Option To Say It’s Wrong | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Intellectual property is important, but copyright filters are an absolute mess. link to ‘Facebook Is So Sure Its Erroneous Blocking Of Music Is Right, There’s No Option To Say It’s Wrong | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Josh Hawley Just Gave Us the How It Started/How It’s Going for Jan. 6'

- kudos:

What cynicism to support people you once literally ran away from because you think it’s politically advantageous. link to ‘Josh Hawley Just Gave Us the How It Started/How It’s Going for Jan. 6’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'At long last, a photo of Mormon founder Joseph Smith emerges'

- kudos:

Some more coverage of the (possible) photo find. This is the only news I’ve ever read related to facial recognition software that I’ve been happy rather than grumpy about 😂 link to ‘At long last, a photo of Mormon founder Joseph Smith emerges’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Mormon founder Joseph Smith's photo discovered by descendant after nearly 180 years'

- kudos:

Whoa. Big news here. My feelings about Joseph Jr. are complicated, but it’s very cool to see a possible photograph of him. link to ‘Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s photo discovered by descendant after nearly 180 years’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Oklahoma Threatens Librarians: ‘Don’t Use the Word Abortion’'

- kudos:

Libraries are a key part of a democratic society, and this is a very worrying development. link to ‘Oklahoma Threatens Librarians: ‘Don’t Use the Word Abortion’’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'With midterms in sight, few Republicans are defending Trump as they did in 2019 : NPR'

- kudos:

Look, there may be less of a coordinated defense, but ignoring the Jan. 6th hearings is almost as bad as defending Trump from them. link to ‘With midterms in sight, few Republicans are defending Trump as they did in 2019 : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Self-Proclaimed Free Speech Platforms Are Censoring Nude Content. Here’s Why You Should Care | Electronic Frontier Foundation'

- kudos:

Here’s the EFF pointing out that “free speech” on these platforms means something very particular rather than a broad, deep commitment to legally-protected expression. link to ‘Self-Proclaimed Free Speech Platforms Are Censoring Nude Content. Here’s Why You Should Care | Electronic Frontier Foundation’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'DHS bought “shocking amount” of warrantless phone-tracking data, ACLU says | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

Opting out of location sharing is a good and important step, but there are no tech solutions to this horror—only political ones. We need good legislation, and we need it now. link to ‘DHS bought “shocking amount” of warrantless phone-tracking data, ACLU says | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Arizona Makes It Illegal To Record Cops From Less Than Eight Feet Away | Techdirt'

- kudos:

It’s funny how conditional the GOP’s concerns about free speech are. That’s not to say that free speech isn’t a complicated topic to be weighed in conjunction with other concerns—it absolutely is. But if a party wants to use a simplistic view of free speech as a rallying cry, stunts like this show how just how simplistic that view is. link to ‘Arizona Makes It Illegal To Record Cops From Less Than Eight Feet Away | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'TikTok resists calls to preserve Ukraine content for war crime investigations | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

So, here’s a case where TikTok’s Chinese ownership is actually a really big deal—though, of course, YouTube and other U.S. companies have also been quicker to moderate than to archive material that could be valuable in a similar way. link to ‘TikTok resists calls to preserve Ukraine content for war crime investigations | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Independence schools ban book for gender content – The Beacon'

- kudos:

I’m glad the article identifies Art as an apostle for Community of Christ, to emphasize that it’s entirely possible to be affirming and Christian. Coming from Mormonism, I’m not used to the idea of apostles standing up for queer causes, so as gross as the book removal is, I’m grateful for Art’s example here. link to ‘Independence schools ban book for gender content – The Beacon’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ubisoft Teaches Customers They Don’t Own All That DLC They ‘Bought’ | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Ugh. We “buy” too many things this way. link to ‘Ubisoft Teaches Customers They Don’t Own All That DLC They ‘Bought’ | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Anti-Abortion Leader Tells Congress a 10-Year-Old’s Abortion Wouldn’t Count'

- kudos:

This strikes me as weaselly logic. It absolutely is an abortion, and it’s absolutely why it’s shamefully ridiculous to make simplistic claims about abortion as murder or to set up “zero abortions” as an ideal to be attained through legislation and jurisprudence. link to ‘Anti-Abortion Leader Tells Congress a 10-Year-Old’s Abortion Wouldn’t Count’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Man Arrested for Rape of 10-Year-Old Abortion Patient the Right Said Was Fake'

- kudos:

I didn’t realize there’d been so much right-wing pushback against this awful, awful story. There’s always room for good faith critical appraisals of the news, but what critics seem to me to miss here is that even if it weren’t true, the mere hypothetical possibility of something like this happening is shameful. That said, the emergence of more evidence supporting the claims is not a great look for those who called it into question.

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'BMW’s Push To Make Heated Seats A $18 Per Month Subscription Portends A Dumb And Costly Future | Techdirt'

- kudos:

This is such a dumb development. Why are we letting technology whittle away at ownership instead of increasing access to things? link to ‘BMW’s Push To Make Heated Seats A $18 Per Month Subscription Portends A Dumb And Costly Future | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Amazon Admits Giving Police Ring Footage Without Consent'

- kudos:

It’s concerning to see private surveillance prop up public surveillance like this. link to ‘Amazon Admits Giving Police Ring Footage Without Consent’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Watch New York City's new nuclear war PSA | Boing Boing'

- kudos:

Just the idea that NYC feels like it needs to keep people educated about what to do in case of a nuclear attack is enough to add some existential dread to my Tuesday. link to ‘Watch New York City’s new nuclear war PSA | Boing Boing’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Uber paid academics six-figure sums for research to feed to the media'

- kudos:

Disappointing to see academics implicated in the Uber Files. It’s a compelling example of how research funding is contingent on public and private interests. Of course, public interests are generally less worrying than Uber funding research perceived to be positive and profitable, but there are still times I have questions about the NSF’s priorities. link to ‘Uber paid academics six-figure sums for research to feed to the media’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Lexington, KY writer Ada Limón is the next US poet laureate | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

I haven’t read Limón’s poetry (I don’t read much poetry at all), but I’ll have to change that. Happy for some Kentucky and Lexington representation in this way. link to ‘Lexington, KY writer Ada Limón is the next US poet laureate | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Bayraktar TB2 Drone Sales from Turkey Growing Despite Western Laws — ProPublica'

- kudos:

A deep dive on a worrying military technology. The U.S. has already done a lot of damage with drones, and as more countries start to use them, more damage is going to be done. [link to ‘Bayraktar TB2 Drone Sales from Turkey Growing Despite Western Laws — ProPublica’](https://www.propublica.org/article/bayraktar-tb2-drone-turkey-exports

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Major American Companies to Schools: Expand Access to Computer Science'

- kudos:

Look, I’m not opposed to expanding computer science education, but if the motivation is to fill jobs and keep tech giants thriving, that seems to me to be a red flag. Education ought to focus on democracy above the economy; we need to be producing citizens, not employees. There are ways to teach tech in a way that supports democracy and produces citizens, but if I get grumpy about computer science educstion, it’s because we rarely talk about it that way.

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Sony Removes 100s Of Movies Bought Through PS Store | Techdirt'

- kudos:

This is why I’m trying to buy more physical copies of things—or at least DRM-free stuff. I have lots of regrets about the size of my Kindle library, for example. link to ‘You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Sony Removes 100s Of Movies Bought Through PS Store | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Uber lobbied and used 'stealth' tech to block scrutiny, according to new report : NPR'

- kudos:

This seems pretty gross so far. I wonder how much more will come out of these leaks. link to ‘Uber lobbied and used ‘stealth’ tech to block scrutiny, according to new report : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Musk’s Attempt To Get Out Of The Twitter Deal Proceeding Exactly As Predicted; What Happens Next? | Techdirt'

- kudos:

I always appreciate Masnick’s going into the legal details that are above my head. Techdirt has proven to be one of the most helpful sources for understanding this fiasco. link to ‘Musk’s Attempt To Get Out Of The Twitter Deal Proceeding Exactly As Predicted; What Happens Next? | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Elon Musk officially tries to bail on buying Twitter - The Verge'

- kudos:

Best line: “Musk seemed to relish the ability to make wishful product plans about free speech and corporate independence more than he wanted to develop a coherent business plan for Twitter.” link to ‘Elon Musk officially tries to bail on buying Twitter - The Verge’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'New York gun applicants will have to submit their social accounts for review : NPR'

- kudos:

Gun control is good, but surveillance isn’t. I don’t think this is the answer. link to ‘New York gun applicants will have to submit their social accounts for review : NPR’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Twitter Is Ready for a Potential Legal Battle With Elon Musk - The New York Times'

- kudos:

What an enormous mess this is turning into. link to ‘Twitter Is Ready for a Potential Legal Battle With Elon Musk - The New York Times’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Marco Rubio Pretends To Be A TikTok Privacy Champion, Despite Years Of Undermining U.S. Consumer Privacy | Techdirt'

- kudos:

Concern about privacy is good, but not when it’s Sinophobic posturing. Yes, what TikTok is doing is worrying and problematic, but Bode makes an important point here: If they aren’t willing to fix the broader infrastructure, stances like Rubio’s just come down to trying to score cheap political points. link to ‘Marco Rubio Pretends To Be A TikTok Privacy Champion, Despite Years Of Undermining U.S. Consumer Privacy | Techdirt’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'After Dobbs, Advocates Fear School Surveillance Tools Could Put Teens at Risk – The Markup'

- kudos:

I’ve seen a number of headlines about how a post-Dobbs world changes the game for online privacy, but this is the first one that I sat down to read. School surveillance software is scary enough without this possibility, so let’s not make it worse. I can’t believe that this software gives schools any benefits that outweigh the heavy cost to students’ privacy. link to ‘After Dobbs, Advocates Fear School Surveillance Tools Could Put Teens at Risk – The Markup’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Kentucky school district bans backpacks for older students | Lexington Herald Leader'

- kudos:

I went to high school post Columbine, so we could only use mesh or clear backpacks and were required to wear IDs at all times. Even at the time, that felt like security theater. Schools can’t solve this problem with decisions like these–we need to decide as a society to rethink our relationship with guns. link to ‘Kentucky school district bans backpacks for older students | Lexington Herald Leader’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'A (Wheatstone) bridge to the past – Punya Mishra's Web'

- kudos:

I’ve also been thinking recently about small but important influences on my career, so it was a real treat to read Punya’s thoughts here. [link to ‘A (Wheatstone) bridge to the past – Punya Mishra’s Web’](https://punyamishra.com/2022/07/07/a-wheatstone-bridge-to-the-past/?utm_source=rss

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'US carriers want to bring “screen zero” lock screen ads to smartphones | Ars Technica'

- kudos:

I’m glad I got out of the Kindle game before they did on-screen ads. This feels dystopian. link to ‘US carriers want to bring “screen zero” lock screen ads to smartphones | Ars Technica’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Learn English: The Anglicization of the Church | Times & Seasons'

- kudos:

Very interesting look at Anglocentrism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. link to ‘Learn English: The Anglicization of the Church | Times & Seasons’

🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Coverage in EdWeek of a recent article on uncertainty in science | Joshua M. Rosenberg, Ph.D.'

- kudos:

Really enjoyed this coverage of Josh’s work! I haven’t ever done Bayesian work, so it surprised me how closely the ideas in the article resembled thoughts I’ve been having about positivism and other research paradigms. link to ‘Coverage in EdWeek of a recent article on uncertainty in science | Joshua M. Rosenberg, Ph.D.’