Tag: You’re Doing it Wrong

Illinois Legislators Approve Law to Requires Students Surrender Social Media Passwords

Further demonstrating that the state believes it owns us, Illinois legislators have approve a law that would require K-12 and university students to surrender their social media passwords to school officials:

However, with the new law that Illinois legislators approved, school districts and universities in Illinois can demand a student’s social media password. The new law states if a school has a reasonable cause to believe that a student’s account on a social network contains evidence that a student has violated a schools disciplinary rule of policy. Even if it’s posted after school hours.

This week some school districts sent home letters to notify parents and students about the new rules. ” To get into a social networking site and it could be at a school or at home. That we would be able to get that password and get onto their account,” said Leigh Lewis Triad Community Unity School District Superintendent.

I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if the law only covered K-12 students. The state does believe that it wholly owns every minor. And if that were the case I would urge any parent to tell snoopy school administrators to fuck off. But the law also covers university students who tend to be adults. So now I must also encourage university students to tell snoopy school administrators to fuck off.

As with all Orwellian laws this one is being sold using fear. We’re told that it’s necessary to stop “cyber bullying” (apparently adding the word cyber to something is supposed to make it scarier). In reality it’s just another tool for school administrators to put the students in their place. The message is very clear, behave or some school administrator is going to do a detailed search of your entire social media presence including private messages. I feel confident in saying this because there is no reason whatsoever for a school administrator to need a student’s password. If a student is the target of harassment they can show administrators the relevant information (and they don’t even have to surrender their password to do it). Screenshots can be taken of any pertinent evidence. It’s very easy.

And since I’m on a kick of turning common statist arguments against them let’s also consider the children. Teenagers have a habit of sending naked pictures to their significant others. There’s no changing it, it’s a fact of life. What’s to stop a creepy teacher who suspects a student has sent or received naked pictures of themselves or others from making up an excuse to demand their password so they can comb through them? Not a damn thing since minors have no real legal rights.

The thing to keep in mind is that this law, like all laws, can be disobeyed. Just because the state says you have to surrender your password doesn’t mean you do. Upon receiving a demand for your password you can just as easily shutdown the account or, better yet, tell the person making the demand to fuck off.

Testosterone So Thick You Need a Knife to Cut It

When somebody criticizes your friend what’s the appropriate response? If you said, “Beat the shit out of them!” then you are a psychopath. Congratulations, you can now join the fraternity of people who get bent out of shape whenever Seth Rogen opens his mouth. It’s true, Seth Rogen insulted Chris Kyle. I don’t pay any attention to what Rogen says because I don’t find his movies funny nor his statements thought provoking. But there are a lot of people who do pay attention to what he says and get really bent out of shape whenever his words disagree with their world view. Take Dean Cain, who is an actor I’ve never heard of before (which isn’t to say he’s not famous, I don’t pay much attention to actors). He’s publicly stated a desire to kick Seth Rogen’s ass for insulting his best friend forever, Chris Kyle:

Actor Dean Cain, who was paired in 2012 with slain Navy SEAL Chris Kyle on NBC’s “Stars Earn Stripes,” had some fighting words for Michael Moore and Seth Rogen after the two made controversial comments about the autobiography film “American Sniper.”

“Seth…I like your films, but right now, I wanna kick your ass,” the former Superman wrote in defense of his friend Monday. “Chris is an American Hero. Period. Go to war. Then we’ll talk.”

The only reason I’m writing a post about this is because I want to address two things. First I want to address the concept of violence as a method of dealing with criticism. Most of the people who see Chris Kyle as a paragon of America have resorted to either threats of violence against or wishing tragedy on his critics (not in jest, mind you). Nothing shows that you’re a mature, well-adjusted adult like threatening violence and wishing tragedy on others who have nothing more than disagree with you.

Second I want to address the whole “Go to war.” comment made by Mr. Cain. This is an idiotic rebuttal. It doesn’t refute Rogen’s criticisms. And saying critics of war need to go to war is the same as saying critics of murder need to commit murder. You can criticize something that you haven’t directly participated in. In fact almost everybody does. How many people who bitch about homosexuals have actually had sex with somebody of their own gender (come to think of it, many of them probably have and feel ashamed that they enjoyed it)? How many people have criticized referees at professional football games but have never been a referee at a professional football game? How many people criticize rapists but have never raped anybody? Saying somebody can’t criticize war or soldiers because they’ve never gone to war is fucking pathetic. It’s not even an argument. If you’re that butthurt over something that somebody has said and can’t come up with a good counterargument then maybe you should consider reevaluating your life.

The ATF is Solely Responsible for Its Ruling

Gun owners, like libertarians, a very good at eating their own. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the conversations that have been surrounding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’s (ATF) ruling that holding a gun wrong is a felony. You would think gun owners would be focusing in their wrath on the ATF but many seem to view fellow gun owners are the true culprits.

When the arm braces were released we all knew they were going to get an unfavorable ruling from the ATF eventually. Many gun owners wrote into the ATF requesting clarification on numerous corner cases involving arm braces. Some of the requests were serious but most of them were humorous. Apparently these requests are what caused the ATF to issue its ruling and we should therefore all scorn the gun owners who made those requests.

This is bullshit. Pure unadulterated bullshit. We all knew the ATF was going to issue this ruling eventually. After all, if there’s one thing the ATF hates more than gun owners it’s fun. I’m fairly certain the ATF has a staff that just combs YouTube for videos of people having fun with firearms and tries to figure out how to make those activities illegal. As soon as videos started popping up of gun owners having fun with arm braces it was over. The ATF detected fun and it was going to swoop in to stop it.

All of you who are blaming fellow gun owners for the ATF’s actions need to knock it the fuck off. I get it. You’re angry and you feel powerless against the ATF. But taking out your rage on somebody you perceive to be weaker is childish. It’s as if your teacher gave you detention so you decided to beat the shit out of her kid.

Some of you may not be angry but are merely trying to win favor from the ATF. Turning on your fellows is a great to display loyalty to a master after all. But it’s not going to work. No matter how much you kowtow to the ATF, no matter how much you lick its boots, it will not grant you the special favors you seek. When the next fun toy gets developed it will still rip it from your hands. That’s because it views you, correctly, as its subject.

The ATF issued and will enforce the decision. It is solely responsible for this mess. So take all of that anger that you’re using to lash out at people who aren’t responsible for this mess and lash out at the ATF. Who knows, maybe if our ancestors had told the ATF to go fuck itself instead of screaming at each other we wouldn’t be in the mess. Maybe if the ATF knew everything it did would be met with resistance it would be more hesitant to issue stupid rulings. But we’ll probably never know because we’re too busy blaming each other to dedicate any real energy to hating the actual culprit.

Louisiana Continues to Ban Oral Sex; Necrophilia A-OK

There are a lot of ancient laws relating to how people conduct themselves in their own bedroom. Many of those laws are still on the books and I like to think that is because politicians simply haven’t gotten around to removing them. But Louisiana has shown us that isn’t the case. Their politicians debated their state’s sex laws and came to a strange conclusion:

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted this week to uphold an anti-sodomy law that bans oral sex in the state.

A measure to remove the ban failed by a wide margin Tuesday, in a vote of 27-67.

Meanwhile, according to The Blot, necrophilia or sex with a dead person is technically legal in the state of Louisiana.

So oral sex is illegal but necrophilia is totally cool*. OK, technically the law is unenforceable. The Supreme Court ruled laws prohibiting sodomy unconstitutional in 2003. But Louisiana’s politicians must be hoping a day will come when that ruling is reversed (because any arbitrary Supreme Court ruling can be reverse by a later arbitrary Supreme Court ruling) because there is no other reason to leave the laws on the books. This also shows that these laws having simply been forgotten. They’re still remembered, debated, and supported by many.

*Yeah, it’s a pun. Deal with it.

Obama Wants Enable Abusers to Better Surveil Their Victims

Last week David Cameron, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, publicly stated that he wanted all encryption to be broken so him and his cronies could better spy on the populace. Shortly afterward Obama came out in support of Cameron’s desire:

President Barack Obama said Friday that police and spies should not be locked out of encrypted smartphones and messaging apps, taking his first public stance in a simmering battle over private communications in the digital age.

Apple, Google and Facebook have introduced encrypted products in the past half year that the companies say they could not unscramble, even if faced with a search warrant. That’s prompted vocal complaints from spy chiefs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Obama’s comments came after two days of meetings with Cameron, and with the prime minister at his side.

“If we find evidence of a terrorist plot… and despite having a phone number, despite having a social media address or email address, we can’t penetrate that, that’s a problem,” Obama said. He said he believes Silicon Valley companies also want to solve the problem. “They’re patriots.”

Every time a politician tells us that we need to surrender security they always sell it with fear. They tell us that they must be able to read all of our communications otherwise terrorists will kill us, pedophiles will kidnap and rape children, abusers will continue to abuse their victims, and murderers will be able to kill with impunity. I think it’s about time to bring this conversation full circle. Every one of those arguments can be flipped around.

Without having a means of anonymously and privately individuals become much easier for terrorists to target. Imagine an individual inside of a terrorist cell that wants to communicate the cell’s plans to counter-terrorists. Unless he is able to do this anonymously and privately he will likely be killed. The problem with breaking cryptographic tools so the government can bypass them is that anybody who knows about that weakness can also bypass them.

Then we have the children. Everything attack against our privacy is “for the children”. But cryptographic tools can also protect children from predators. Imagine a school setting where an instructor is planning to abduct one of the pupils. He’s obviously not going to do it on school grounds because the likelihood of him being caught is high. However if his target coordinates plans with other schoolmates via electronic communications and those communications are not secure the predator can view them and wait for them to go somewhere more isolated.

Abusers love to surveil their victims. Keeping tabs on where their victims go, what they spend, who they’re talking with, and what they’re talking about allows abusers to wield a great deal of psychological power. This ability to surveil also makes it less likely that their victims will seek help. When the chances of getting caught seeking help are high and the consequences are physical abuse then a victim is more likely to do what maintains to status quo.

Murders, like terrorists, would benefit greatly from broken cryptography. Like terrorists, murderers need to identify and track their target. If somebody is trying to murder a specific individual they may know where that individual works and lives. Businesses and neighborhoods often have too many witnesses around so a smart murderer is going to suveil their target and use the information he uncovered to strike at a more opportune time.

It’s time we start calling the politicians on their bullshit fear mongering. Whenever they bring up terrorists, pedophiles, abusers, or murderers we need to point out that those threats are also good arguments for strong cryptography.

ATF Rules Holding Firearms Incorrectly is a Felony

This just goes to show how meaningless the label felon is and how much power an agency can wield. Arm braces for AR pattern rifles have been a big seller. They’re designed to help you brace an AR pistol against your forearm. It just so happens that these designs can also secure the weapon against your shoulder like a traditional stock. Because of this many people have chosen to build AR pistols with arm braces instead of paying the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) $200 for a tax stamp that gives them the privilege of using a traditional stock on an AR with a barrel shorter than 16″.

The ATF has now ruled that using an arm brace to shoulder an AR with a barrel under 16″ is a felony [PDF]:

The pistol stabilizing brace was neither “designed” nor approved to be used as a shoulder stock, and therefore use as a shoulder stock constitutes a “redesign” of the device because a possessor has changed the very function of the item. Any individual letters stating otherwise are contrary to the plain language of the NFA, misapply Federal law, and are hereby revoked.

Any person who intends to use a handgun stabilizing brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol (having a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a smooth bore firearm with a barrel under 18 inches in length) must first file an ATF Form 1 and pay the applicable tax because the resulting firearm will be subject to all provisions of the NFA.

What this means is that having an AR with a barrel under 16″ equipped with an arm brace is perfectly legal so long as you don’t put the brace against your shoulder. The second you do put that brace against your shoulder you are committing a felony. Holding a gun wrong is now officially a felony.

And this new felony didn’t take an act of Congress or the signature of the President. It only required an agency to write a letter. This is why the idea that Congress must vote and the President must sign a bill is some kind of meaningful check against runaway government power is laughable. In the case of firearm laws the ATF need only redefine what “redesign” means and it can create a new felony crime. No fuss, no muss.

I think this also explains why the average working professional unknowingly commits and average of three felonies a day. When an agency can simply redefine a single word and create a new felony it goes without saying that there are going to be a lot of felonies. This is also why everybody who thinks they’re a law-abiding citizen is wrong.

Bloomington Police Department’s Desperate Attempt to Punish the Mall of American Protesters

Just before Christmas a group held a protest at the Mall of America. The police overreacted to say the least and had a ton of officers on site in riot gear hoping the opportunity would present itself for them to thumb some skulls. Since the protesters could be goaded into a fight the officers didn’t get to play their violent game. All in all the protesters really made the Bloomington Police Department look silly and, in my opinion, completely pathetic. Not surprisingly the police want revenge and they’re seeking it by charging some of the protesters with ridiculous offenses. Just read some of these charges:

— Aiding and abetting trespassing

[…]

— Aiding and abetting unlawful assembly

[…]

— Aiding and abetting disorderly conduct

[…]

— Aiding and abetting public nuisance

How can aiding and abetting public nuisance be an offense? Seriously. Public nuisance is already such a minor offense that it’s hardly worth noting so aiding and abetting somebody who is a public nuisance is even less noteworthy. At most the protesters could be charged with trespassing, although the Mall is a receiver of stolen tax money so I would actually argue that every Minnesotan is a partial owner and therefore the Mall is a public space. The rest of these charges, no matter how you look at them, are trite bullshit.

Bigots Can’t Even Get Their Bigotry Right

Remember the fuckface gun range owner in Arkansas that decided to ban all Muslims from her gun range? Sickeningly I know some people who cheered this decision because they believe Islam is a synonym for terrorist. Apparently the range owner believes Islam is a synonym for brown people:

When we reported last fall on a Hot Springs firing range that was declared a “Muslim free zone” by its owner, several blog commenters asked, “how will she know who’s a Muslim?” The answer, unsurprisingly, seems to be good old fashioned racism. The Times was contacted over the weekend by a college student from Hot Springs who went to the Gun Cave with his father for a round of target practice.

They’re not Muslim, but they do happen to be South Asian. They were told to leave by a woman, presumably Jan Morgan, the owner.

[…]

“When we went in, a woman asked, ‘Where are you guys from?’ We told her we were from Hot Springs. She said, “this is a Muslim free shooting range,” so if we are [Muslim] and if we don’t like the rule, then leave. We said that we’re not Muslim, but my dad asked, ‘Why is it Muslim free?’ and they started having a conversation. Then, all of a sudden, I don’t know what went wrong, but she stopped us from filling out the paperwork and said ‘I don’t think you guys should be here.’ She told us to leave or she’d call the cops on us.”

Listen, if you’re hellbent on being a bigot at least get your bigotry right. I’m theorizing, with the circumstantial evidence available to me so far, that the owner of the range isn’t hating on Muslims specifically but claiming to hate Muslims being that’s more acceptable in this country than being a racist.

Either way, I really hope the range goes bankrupt. Or burns down in a fire. I’m not picky.

Google Stops Supporting Old Unsupported Code

I give software companies a lot of shit for failing to keep their customers secure but I also acknowledge that the task is really difficult. This is especially true when your customers are running old versions of your software and either refuse to or cannot upgrade. Microsoft continued supporting Windows XP for a decade, which is probably a century in software terms. When it cut off support many people still running Windows XP complained that they were being put at unnecessary risk. But software companies can’t support every version of every software product they’ve released. Google recently announced that it was no longer going to support Android WebView and now people are complaining that they’re being put at unnecessary risk because they’re running a old version of Android:

Owning a smartphone running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or an earlier versions of Android operating system ?? Then you are at a great risk, and may be this will never end.

Yes, you heard right. If you are also one of millions of users still running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or earlier versions of the operating system, you will not get any security updates for WebView as Google has decided to end support for older versions of Android WebView – a default web browser on Android devices.

WebView is the core component used to render web pages on an Android device, but it was replaced on Android 4.4 KitKat with a more recent Chromium-based version of WebView that is also used in the Chrome web browser.

Admittedly only supporting the latest version of Android is pretty shoddy but who is really to blame? Google has released a new version of Android, 4.4, and is supporting it so why aren’t customers upgrade? Because device manufacturers and carriers are standing in the way.

The smartest thing Apple did with the iPhone is cut the carriers out of the update cycle. When Apple wants to release an update it just released an update. Furthermore it has been doing an OK, albeit not great, job of supporting older devices.

Most devices require the device manufacturer to release an update and each carrier to sign off on it before it gets pushed to customers. Android device manufacturers have also been stopping updates for older devices at breakneck speed. Oftentimes you’re fortune to have your device supported with updates by the manufacturer for the entirety of your two year contract. And even if the manufacturer does a good job of supporting your device the carrier through inaction many prevent the update from being released to its customers.

I don’t think Google should bear most of the blame here. The real culprit are the companies that have prevented their customers from upgrading to the latest version of Android. Unless mobile handsets move to a model similar to desktops and laptops, where customers are free to install whatever operating system version they desire, we’re going to continue seeing instances where software developers drop support for legacy products and leave massive numbers of users without needed support.

Y’all Need More Jesus

One of the things I love to watch is a politician’s transition from whatever they were when elected to a party zealot when they get aspirations of becoming president. Governor Bobby Jindal has been, as far as I know, liked by many self proclaimed liberty advocates. For Louisiana is seems to be not as much of a dick as the state’s other politicians but that’s not a high bar to jump over. But now he seems to want a chance at the presidency. In order to do that as a member of the Republican Party you need to provide that you’re a religious zealot, which Mr. Jindal has demonstrated a willingness to be:

But as his presidential aspirations grow, so is his desire to mix religion and politics. Speaking to a group of Christian and Jewish leaders in Iowa, Jindal averred:

“The reality is I’m here today because I genuinely, sincerely, passionately believe that America’s in desperate need of a spiritual revival,” Jindal, who is weighing a presidential bid, said during a 37-minute-long speech followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session.

“I love to quote Winston Churchill. … ‘You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they’ve exhausted every alternative,’ ” Jindal said.

“That’s where we are as a country,” he continued. “We have tried everything and now it is time to turn back to God.”

As you can guess I don’t give two shits about this man. He’s a politicians, which makes him scum in my book. The reason I’m bringing this up is to discuss one of the Republican Party’s biggest shortcomings, it’s religious zealotry. You would think a party that claims to love Jesus so much would be something other than a social group for bigots, tyrants, and blood thirsty war mongers. After all, Jesus hung out with a motley crew, never involved himself with politics, and preached about loving thy neighbor and such.

Instead of focusing on the actions of the man they claim to worship they focus on very strange parts of the Bible that, when interpreted liberally, say that all of the gays need to pray away their sexual orientation, imaginary lines determine who is great and who sucks, and people with a skin tone darker than luminescent need to be bombed. More importantly these things that the Republican Party focuses on are the very things that prevent it from gaining political power for more than a few short bursts of time.

Wouldn’t you think that a political party that wants to stay relevant would try changing what hasn’t been working? I would think that. But Republicans don’t think that, which is why they’re the laughing stock of politics. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good that they haven’t been able to grab more power otherwise there probably wouldn’t be a Middle East left. But I find it amusing that one of the two political parties in this country manages to stay a big political party while also being so incredibly incompetent.