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Displaying post 1 to 16 of 16 from mefi

Is the EFF harmful to online rights?

In a sardonic new editorial, the Register asks whether the EFF is harming the very causes that it's supposedly fighting for. This isn't coming out of left field. The EFF has lost numerous cases that could have been won, and in doing so is helping to creating precedents that make fights for civil liberties harder to wage.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 10:07 AM on December 6, 2005 (35 comments)

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant - Richard Dawkins talks about how the Fundamentalists distort science.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 12:09 PM on June 3, 2005 (58 comments)

She's dead, Jim.

Terry Schiavo has died.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 7:11 AM on March 31, 2005 (187 comments)

Supreme Court Judge Hospitalized - ThyroidFilter

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist has been hospitalized for treatment of thyroid cancer. Doctors expect to release the 80 year old chief justice later this week. Rehnquist had a tracheotomy on Sunday after being admitted to Bethesda on Friday. More coverage abounds.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 9:51 AM on October 25, 2004 (22 comments)

woe is we

Bush's latest accomplishment may not be one that he's willing to brag about. The Census Bureau is reporting that an additional 1.3 million Americans are now living in poverty. They also offer a number of pretty graphs (all in pdf).
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 8:19 AM on August 26, 2004 (113 comments)

A Couple of Large Pieces, Joined at the Hip

Akamai is having some issues. It turns out a lot of really large companies use Akamai as their DNS host and apparently most of their DNS servers are no longer responding. And it's not like this is the first time. Geeks are in a tizzy. Whither the decentralized network?
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 8:15 AM on June 15, 2004 (19 comments)

Accountability? We don't need no stinkin' accountability!

Where is our money going? According to the Congressional Budget Office, not only is the Bush administration asking for 87 billion dollars to cover Iraqi reconstruction, but they're also unable to account for 2.5 billion of the 4 billion dollars that they're spending per month in Iraq.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 2:37 PM on September 18, 2003 (34 comments)

Cuban Wildlife

Cuba is best known for its legendary cigars and bearded dictators, but it's also home to some of the healthiest ecosystems in the Caribbean. Pygmy owls, bee hummingbirds, and solenodons share the islands of Cuba with tiny tiny tree frogs, trogons, and one of the largest groups of snails in the world. There are problems, though. Many species such as the giant cursorial owl, the ivory-billed woodpecker and the smallest of the giant sloths have been wiped out over the last 5,000 years, and other species are threatened.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 7:12 AM on May 23, 2003 (8 comments)

Macworld SF 2003 Keynote Reactions

I don't know if you've been watching the keynote , but Steve Jobs has announced an array of new Apple products. Including updated iApps, a new browser (Safari) (which, by the way, is Open Source), Keynote (a presentation app), a 17-inch Powerbook and a 12-inch Powerbook.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 11:21 AM on January 7, 2003 (84 comments)

 CNN is reporting that a small plane has struck...

A small plane has ran into a skyscraper in Milan.  CNN is reporting that a small plane has struck the 25th floor of the Pirelli building. The skyscraper apparently houses government offices. Details are still coming in.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 9:34 AM on April 18, 2002 (68 comments)

Calling his invention a "Jasker", an...

Inventor Claims Zero Point Energy Source Calling his invention a "Jasker", an Irish Electrical Engineer (who is keeping his identity a secret), claims to have a working prototype of a machine that is capable of replenishing its own energy source. We've heard this sort of thing before, and there are hundreds of other "inventors" making the same sorts of claims, but could this one be for real? And how does this fit in with the First Law of Thermodynamics?
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 2:40 PM on January 22, 2002 (29 comments)

According to this BBC article, the US had been...

Was a US attack on the Taliban been in the works since July? According to this BBC article, the US had been planning a "military action", for the end of October, since mid July. The plan was to invade Afghanistan,oust the Taliban, and install a moderate government, possibly under former king Zahir Shah. Are the attacks last week simply going to legitimize this pre-existing plan? Or am I simply being too paranoid?
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 12:11 PM on September 18, 2001 (32 comments)

The basic gist is that the Web, once a vibrant...

Apparently the Web is getting less eclectic. The basic gist is that the Web, once a vibrant and quirky place, is just becoming a repository of dullness and repetition with such an overabundance of information that people tend to stick to sites that they know and love. What's your take on it?
(Thanks to Zach at Thinky.org for the link.)
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 12:28 PM on August 27, 2001 (35 comments)

allows you to generate dynamic images of text via...

The Sigmund Typeface Utility allows you to generate dynamic images of text via a query string. There are options for the font style, color, and kerning. And the best part? Its all open source so it seems like someone could come up with a generator for things like Silkscreen, Mini7 or whatever else one might find useful.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 11:31 AM on August 1, 2001 (10 comments)

in the San Francisco dog mauling case (that was...

Inmates Claim Ownership of Dogs in the San Francisco dog mauling case (that was previously discussed here). Apparently they (the inmates) are in jail for life, and the theory is that they have nothing to lose by taking the blame for the killing.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 11:35 AM on July 11, 2001 (3 comments)

Apparently this is just a mockup, and its a little...

Apple and Palm's new iPhone? Apparently this is just a mockup, and its a little bit unclear what all the little buttons do, but I still want one.
posted to MetaFilter by bshort at 7:31 PM on April 12, 2001 (12 comments)