17. March, 2003 - St. Patrick’s Day?

• Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. After the fight with the server on Saturday, I went out for some dinner and a beer or two, as I was too tired to even think about cooking without accidentally setting myself on fire with the can-opener. A couple beers turned into more, and I not only missed a friend’s birthday party Saturday night, but I slept through most of the day yesterday. My Friday plans to get my trike ready for a Saturday afternoon ride are still nothing but plans. In any case, I needed a break from computers, and yesterday was it. Now it’s time to try and get back on track for this week. I probably won’t make it to the Boiled in Lead 20th Anniversary Concert tonight at First Avenue, either. But in what’s good news for those of you with any æsthetic sense at all, I also didn’t have time to prepare a special color-scheme for today.
• When Hackers Meet Soldiers. The tale of how OpenBSD is getting a boost from the military. A real paranoid type might suggest that’s why I had so many problems upgrading the server over the weekend, but I don’t think blaming the military’s the right answer at this point, and I’m glad to see Theo getting some extra funding to work on the OS.
• Telemarketers keep slipping through state do-not-call list, partly because there are too many loopholes, and partly because people who report telemarketers don’t always have all the information they need. In related news, the complaint I filed with the FCC about a junk fax I received last month has been acknowledged. They’re probably not going to do anything about it except add it to the list of complaints against fax.com. [strib]
• Back in February, VeriSign, RSA in court over patents owned by a guy who claims to have invented the technique behind SSL The applications were filed in 1992. SSL was invented in 1994. The patents were granted in 1998 and 1999 and he started filing suits in 1999. Verisign and RSA stood up to him and refused to pay. Last week a jury denied his claims against them, and now the trial deciding the validity of his patents has started. If you’re looking for an example of how the patent system in the US is broken, this is a pretty good one.
• New Mexico HJM040 looks like a rare good law. It not only directs law enforcement in the state to avoid participating in any illegal actions undertaken by the federal government, but also direct them to pester the feds about any New Mexicans who are being held. Nice work. [boing boing]

Copyright 2008, Dave Polaschek. Last updated on Mon, 17 Mar 2003 07:40:31.