Facebook doesn't want you to know that the Obama campaign follows porn sites

http://twitchy.com/2012/10/06/facebook-blocks-twitchy-from-posting-for-24-hours-threatens-permanent-ban/

Dear Tim Cook

Dear Tim Cook,

Thanks for letting me know that you're going to cut my iCloud storage back by 20GB.

As you recall, Apple gave me the extra 20GB because you guys decided to cancel MobileMe right after I had renewed it (on the family plan) for $99. Instead of giving me the service I had paid for, you gave extra space in this new service. You also gave me a hellish labyrinth of confusing sync options. You also gave me an online "backup" for my iOS devices, which I apparently need because syncing an iOS device with iTunes has become so utterly baffling to me (a veteran IT careerist with 30 years experience) that I haven't had a successful sync in a year.

Most of the storage I'm using in iCloud seems to be consumed by these backups. In fact, once you downgrade me to the usual free 5GB of iCloud, I will immediately be unable to back up one of either my iPad 2 or my iPhone 4 without upgrading my storage. I have no idea what will happen to my photo stream, which is now the only way I can manage to get pictures from my phone to my desktop consistently.

Notice too that I don't have the latest and greatest devices. I've not upgraded my iOS gadgets, nor have I upgraded my 2008-vintage Macbook Pro. I have put Mountain Lion on some of my home devices, but I have at least two that are still running OS X 10.5, because they need to run old PPC programs that I can't afford to upgrade.

I'm really writing you to say that I've detected a shift in Apple. Back in 2004, when I finally switched to Mac, Apple was making high-quality products that lasted a long time, and gave me a professional edge. Upgrades were simple, straightforward, annual events that didn't leave me unable to work. I was able to multi-task; at one point, I was regularly running high-end DJ software AND a 3D virtual world client at the same time, with no ill results.

Now, OS X seems oriented toward task-switching instead of multitasking. OS Upgrades are painful, and frequently result in a number of older programs that simply won't work. My iPhone 4 is great for just about everything but being a phone. On my iPad, I could lose everything except the Kindle and Evernote apps, and not notice it.

The shift is this: Apple used to make my life easier. Now you make it harder, and you want more money.

I'm seriously considering giving up my phone entirely. I don't agree with the perception that being reachable and interruptible 24//7 is a virtue. I want a phone that's smarter about handling calls for me, not one that forces me to decide how to handle them. Here's a clue: if my phone is moving faster than 5 miles an hour, don't even let it ring. Send my calls to voicemail. I'm driving. Leave me the heck alone.

As far as my iPad goes, it's been useful primarily as an ebook reader. Innovations such as retina displays are not enough to get me to upgrade. Frankly, I'm ready to try a Kindle or a Nook; the experience seems better.

Notice that, Tim. An avid Apple fan just said that your competitors' devices are more compelling.

My laptop is reaching the point where an upgrade is in order. What are my choices? The Air is not a good platform for gaming, which is most of my non-work use of a laptop. The new Pro is way too expensive. The Macbook hasn't been upgraded. And frankly, I probably don't need a laptop all that much.

Maybe it's just the economy. Maybe I'm getting old. But things aren't the same between us, not like when Steve was in charge. I don't know how to fix it, or even if Apple cares about people like me anymore. But I thought I should write.

Nicholson's Laws

First Law: Whenever anyone says, "We must do something," they are lying. If we must do something, we are doing it. If we aren't doing it, then "must do" doesn't apply.

Second Law: The only time there is anything to eat in the house is when you are unpacking from a grocery trip. As soon as you are done unpacking, there is nothing to eat. (This also applies to beer, clean laundry, etc.)

Third Law: Ignorance of history is the root of all manner of evil.
Corollary: Humanity exists largely in a historical vacuum.

Fourth Law: All explanations of how the Internet was invented are wrong.

Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it

h/t reason.com, this via Drug War Memes

Be Very Angry About This

Graphic by www.accountingdegree.net

Why political discourse is hard

In America today, the main substantive argument between the left and the right is over where the force and authority of government should be applied to compel others to do what they want; in terms of tactics, the two sides are identical. Both sides defend their desires with presumption of their own moral superiority; then, when each runs into logic and evidence that refute their positions, they refuse to engage in real debate, because if it turns out that they are wrong, they must admit that they are also evil.

Government is neither the embodiment of all evil, or the only instrument of good. Government is a tool; a powerful, potentially dangerous tool, like a firearm. It should be used carefully and with consideration of its power, and its vast potential to do amazing things, both good and evil. It should be employed with the consent of the governed - real, informed consent, which is actually very hard to do, as opposed to the kind of manufactured consent that the political, financial, corporate and media interests use to manipulate the political process to their own ends.

Both sides fall victim of their own brand of totalitarian thinking. All serious problems require a government response, unless that response interferes with one's own desires. No one ever questions, "should the government do this?" We see this play out in all of the issues that dot the political landscape. The left vilifies the right for its alleged heartlessness with respect to the poor, because the right refuses to accept the assumption that it is the proper role of government to solve the problems of the poor. On the other hand, the right condemns the left, because the left insists that the conflict between reproductive freedom and the protection of a developing fetus be left to those directly involved, rather than dictated by government policy.

I describe myself as a libertarian. I am not a conservative, nor am I a liberal. I will at times infuriate those of you on the left, because I will side with conservatives when I believe their position is consistent with maximizing individual liberty and restraining the power of government. I will infuriate those of you on the right when I side with liberals for the same reason. And I will continue to be angered, sadden and disheartened by both sides for their respective failure to abandon their largely emotional, non-rational presumptions that theirs is the only morally defensible position. Politics has descended to name-calling and stone-throwing. That doesn't work on the Left Bank, and it isn't working in Washington, or on social networks. Both sides claim to represent the will of the people, but the truth is, neither can do more that temporarily tip the scales in their own favor for an election cycle or two.

I am terribly frightened by the parallels to early 20th century thinking that I see on both the left and the right. I do not know the answer to all the problems that this country faces, but I am committed in principle to the idea that most of our problems neither can nor should be solved at the point of a gun. Both the left and the right need to face the truth that by insisting that every disagreement between them be resolved by some government action, they are essentially saying, "I want to use guns to get my way."

I really don't like being bullied that way.