Pied Type

I’m always on the alert for new ways to beat winter dryness, something that became a much bigger problem for me when I moved to Colorado. Getting older doesn’t help, either. Creature comfort is very high on my list of priorities and the aggravations and irritations brought on by winter dryness are not welcome. While … Continue reading »

Just when I thought GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum couldn’t impress me as any more extreme, I saw this video on the Huffington Post. His idea of right to life includes not aborting a baby resulting from rape. Not even if the pregnant woman were his daughter. The woman must “make the best out of … Continue reading »

I saw my first example of WordPress’s new “Reblog” feature in use today (I hope JW won’t mind if you pop over for a look). Admittedly when the feature was announced, I didn’t pay much attention, but now that I’ve seen it in action, I’m concerned. My first thought is that it grabs excessively long … Continue reading »

We’ve heard a lot of discussion in recent weeks about copyright and trademark law on the Internet, but I’m not going there again, at least not this time. No, this is about a different trademark infringement issue which you might or might not have heard about. Shoes. Or rather, their soles. Specifically, red soles. At … Continue reading »

Today, January 21, is National Hugging Day. (I know, I didn’t know either.) While the day was created to foster more public displays of emotion and affection (PDA), it’s something I was taught not to do. However, hugging and similar warm human contact is considered good for one’s emotional well-being. So hug somebody today. Preferably … Continue reading »

My, my, how convenient. What fortuitous timing. A major Internet file-sharing site based in Hong Kong, Megaupload.com, was shut down yesterday, just a day after America’s anti-SOPA/PIPA blackout. New Zealand authorities arrested the site’s founder, Kim Dotcom, a dual citizen of Finland and Germany living in New Zealand, for violation of U.S. copyright laws. If that … Continue reading »

Woot! Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has buckled and postponed the U.S. Senate vote on PIPA originally scheduled for next Tuesday! Details at PCWorld and elsewhere. All the “shelving” and “postponing” of SOPA/PIPA legislation is probably just a maneuver, waiting for the heat and attention to fade, before reviving the censorship efforts. But for the … Continue reading »

The LA Times reported some of the numbers we, the SOPA/PIPA opposition, accrued on Wednesday’s day of protest. Avaaz.org reported 1.458 million signatures (now 2.3 million and still climbing) on their petition. Sopastrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org, both run by Fight for the Future, reported that at least 350,000 million people sent emails to Congress through their … Continue reading »

I’ve missed a lot of opportunity for political commentary while focusing on the SOPA/PIPA activites, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed. For example, a few days ago Jon Huntsman dropped out of the GOP race for the presidential nomination and threw his support to Mitt Romney. Damn shame, I say, but it was pretty … Continue reading »

Just want to spotlight (for after the blackout) a clever little anti-censorship video, The Day the LOLcats Died. The video appears today on I Can Haz Cheeseburger, mecca for lovers of cats and humor. It asks a pivotal question: “Why, why are laws a thing you can buy?”