SOPA/PIPA blackout | MetaTalk Another story about what it's like to get a bogus takedown letter. 2 weeks of work and stress, without getting compensation from the party that caused the work and stress.
Takedown Hall of Shame | Electronic Frontier Foundation Just in case you're thinking that this SOPA business is a fuss over nothing, than that it is what its supporters say it is – an act targeting pirates and criminals, and that it won't hurt the average innocent internet user – here is a link to a page collating the worst abuses of the existing law in this area, the DCMA, which is what companies currently use to require takedowns of infringing material. Take a look at the list of companies who have used the existing law in a way that was never intended.
The phone game This is a brilliant idea – during meals with friends, everyone puts their phone on the table face down, and the first one to check theirs pays the bill. I'm absolutely as guilty of this as anyone else, but I am increasingly of the view that basically, phones are for when you are alone, and that checking them in company, outside of when you have received a text or call is Not On. Hypocritical, maybe, but I'd like to be better, and will attempt to do better this year.
Dirty 30s! – The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot Lester Dent sold a lot of books in his day. Writing a series of modern day stories that ultimately follow this formula might be fun. 10 or 12 would make a nicely publishable volume, too.
Paypal orders destruction of antique violin I'm not sure what to say. This feels very like something that ought to be a crime – the seller had an authenticated antique violin, worth $2,500, and sold it. The buyer disputed the purchase. Paypal required proof of destruction before they would refund money. Buyer destroys antique, seller is now out both an antique violin *and* the money. Surely Paypal could be held to be complicit in a theft, here?