I am still struggling to get back in the habit of broader commentary in my daily blogging after several disruptions to my schedule, the latest being the forty-plus hour power loss at the house. Thankfully that last had a happy outcome with power coming back much earlier than predicted to the entire family’s relief. Here’s hoping for a more normal blogging routine next week.
- What LibreOffice 3.3 means in terms of the burden of forking
Glyn Moody at ComputerWorld UK has a rumination that resonates with my thinking around the true burden of forking, as expressed in a podcast feature with that name. He also suggests that fragmentation inhabits a space adjacent to forking, something I hadn’t considered or addressed but may when I translate that audio piece into a text essay for the web site. - Ford demos car-to-car network for traffic shaping
Cory at BoingBoing asks one of the key questions, whether this system could be gained to the advantage of those hacking it. He compares the wifi based self reporting to current systems that rely on sensors where spoofing isn’t an issue. I suspect he is on to something and I would expand the point to include problems arising from simple bugs (incompetence rather than malice) that would erode the ambitious safety and efficiency claims the auto manufacturer is boasting. - Egypt turns off the Internet, reinforces Lieberman’s desire for similar capability for the US
Sean Bonner at BoingBoing has pinpointed one of the first aspects of today’s breaking events onto which I can latch. I am still digesting the flood of constantly updating information but also the consequent flood of opinions and analysis. So far such a country-wide kill switch has been shut down for many of the right reasons here but that has not stopped Liberman and others from continuing their efforts. Bonner’s post also has a good number of links for comprehensive coverage of the protests in Egypt. - How Egypt did and other governments could shut down the internet, Ars Technica
- Contemplating the true meaning of data privacy day, Technology Liberation Front
- Anti-kettling app for student demonstrators in London, BoingBoing
- Wyden introduces bill to require warrant for device location info, Techdirt