Signs of the End of Days (and a recipe)

It's hard not to get a little discouraged with the news in politics these days.

Last week, the White House announced, together with the European Union, that they would seek to complete ACTA by the end of the year. ACTA stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, except the agreement covers much more than counterfeiting. There's rumors that it would call for severe penalties for violations of copryights that don't have to do with profit. In practice this would mean that things like leaking information to reporters would be treated the same as when someone makes copies of the latest greatest movie and sells it on a street corner. It's being negotiated mostly in secret - except for the content industries of course. The agreement is also rumored to contain anti-circumvention provisions. These are the provisions that essentially make it illegal to reclaim your property should you lose the key - sort of like saying you can't hire a locksmith to unlock your car if you lose the key.

Also last week, it was announced that scanners that can take naked pictures of you are being installed in 10 U.S. airports to replace physical pat downs. It's one thing to be subject to searches when there is reason to believe you've done something - it's quite another to have a naked picture taken of you simply because you're randomly selected. They promise we shouldn't worry though, it blurs your face and they will never, ever keep the image or print it. Any software system can be broken, especially a system that holds data that could be sold for profit.

This week, Australia's Education Minister announced that they're rolling out a new database of student info. Participation in this national database will be mandatory. The potential for abuse is huge here - unless access controls are properly implemented, and that's hard to do - this would make a wealth of information available on any student anywhere. Don't worry though - this system is as secure as any other system. Would that be like TJ Max's system which was compromised and led to millions of credit card numbers being exposed? Or any of the other high profile compromises that we've seen lately? Unless there's a compelling need, there's no justification for putting together something that's bound to be a target for outside attackers and will be easily abused by insiders.

If you need some comfort food, here's a good recipe for pumpkin blueberry oatmeal bake. :)

Pumpkin Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Cream: 1 cup sugar and .5 cups margarine and approx. 1 cup mashed pumpkin

Add: 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 2.5 cups oatmeal, 1 tsp salt, 3 teaspoons baking powder and 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

After those ingredients are mixed fold in about .75 cup blueberries.

Put in a buttered 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Letter about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

This letter was emailed to Senator Coleman, Senator Klobuchar, and Representative McCollum.


I am writing to you out of concerns about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This agreement has been negotiated without input from concerned organizations, such as Public Knowledge and the EFF, and little opportunity for input from the public.

It is clear that the treaty deals with issues broader than counterfeiting – the exact details of the ACTA haven't been released but a leaked document indicates it would criminalize non-profit facilitation of unauthorized information. Such a provision would criminalize many fair use applications of intellectual property.

When peer-to-peer networks were used to distribute internal Diebold memos demonstrating flaws in electronic voting machines, it was invaluable in protecting the integrity of United States elections. Criminalizing any transmission of unauthorized information, regardless of intent and profit motive would criminalize legitimate activity. Combating piracy doesn't justify this stringent regulation.

Additionally, there are already treaties and international forums to deal with piracy that crosses national borders. The WIPO and WTO exist to help settle these disputes and it's unclear why additional treaty provisions are necessary.

I urge you to pressure the White House to make these treaty organizations open to investigation by all interested parties. I also urge you to oppose any overly strict legislation that might result from signing this treaty. Like most issues, intellectual property legislation requires a balance. The rights of intellectual property owners should not be absolute.

This letter has been published on http://openletters.megancarney.com.

An Organ Rally (the musical kind, not the human kind)

I found a fun surprise at Como Park this morning - a musical organ rally!

You can tell these guys put a lot of work into maintaining their instruments and it's wonderful that they're willing to share all that love and care they put into them for free on a nice summer's day.

Photos here.