mikeg's blog

The SOPA/PIPA Protest

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:00:05 -0500

The following is a list (woefully incomplete) of sites that took action against SOPA/PIPA:

Google (blacked out their logo)
Slashdot (blacked out their logo)
XKCD (Protest Comic)
WBAI Radio (CSS switch: Content blocks in reverse video)
I Can Has Cheezburger? and the Cheezburger Network (Banner)
TV Tropes (Banner)
EFF (Banner & CSS Switch)
The Tor Project (Censor bar across site)
Craigslist (Main page blacked out. Banner on regional pages)
Ars Technica (CSS Switch & Banner)
Not Always Right (CSS Switch & Banner)
Reddit (12-hour outage, 8AM-8PM Eastern -- US Workday)
Questionable Content web comic (Special Comic)
The Mozilla Project (12 hour outage, 8AM-8PM Eastern ; Firefox start page made black)
English Wikipedia (Offline)
2600 (and various local 2600 groups) (Offline)
The Oatmeal (Offline & Funny Picture)
SMBC Comic (Comic blacked out)
Explosm (Site blacked out)
Wasted Talent (Site blacked out)
Wordpress (Main site blacked out)
Nyan Cat (Site blacked out. No Nyan Cat.)

…and of course bsd-box.net, which was offline.

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Bye Bye GoDaddy

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:06:51 -0500

As I write this all of my domains are in the process of being transferred from GoDaddy (who I've used since they first hit the scene years ago) to NameCheap (I considered going with Gandi, but wanted to avoid pricing in Euros because my credit card company sucks so hard they blow).

Most of you know that I've been generally dissatisfied with GoDaddy from an image standpoint, but have generally let the inertia of "I don't want to go through the domain transfer process" carry me along. That all changed today -- I can overlook their shitty business practices. I can excuse their slut-tacular commercials as "sex sells (even domain names)", but I draw the line at supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3621) - This is an absolute piece of shit legislation that threatens the most fundamental principles of free speech by stripping away even the minimal end-user and content-provider protections of the DMCA. Further in chosing its technological weaponry SOPA also manages to jeopardize the DNS system, one of the most basic technical underpinnings of the internet as we know it.

That anyone can support this legislative disaster in the making baffles me. That a technology company can do so is unfathomable. Mr. Parsons has literally gone to congress, pointed an elephant gun at his testicles, and said "Go on, pull the trigger. I like the pain."

I am not usually a fan of Reddit, but they have a nice thread about GoDaddy supporting SOPA, and the ensuing mass exodus of even folks like me who were sticking with GD because of inertia. I have also reproduced GoDaddy/Mr. Parsons' statement supporting SOPA in its entirety below the break. They also mention the BYEBYEGD NameCheap coupon that inspired the title of this post.

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Dear ImageMagick: FUCK YOU.

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:36:58 -0500

Dear ImageMagick,

FUCK YOU.

No Love,

-Me.

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Dear FAA/Aeronav...

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:54:03 -0500

Holy Hairballs - A Blog update! Dayum it's been a while!

So, what the hell do I want to talk about? Well, I want to expound for a bit on the FAA/AeroNav proposal to start charging for digital chart data. And, because this is my blog, I can!

Really everything I want to say can be said by an appropriate LOLCat:

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TheSteve is Dead, Long Live TheSteve

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:49:24 -0400

So as anyone who has not been living under a rock knows, The man I affectionately refer to as TheSteve (Steven Paul Jobs of Apple, Inc. fame) has died. He leaves behind a legacy that includes one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds in modern American history, catapulting what was a foundering Apple Computer into what we know today as Apple, Inc. - Maker of the iEverything.

TheSteve was an iconic figure - Famous (infamous) for his perfectionism and capricious nature, and gifted with the ability to know what the masses wanted before they knew themselves. Products like the iPod and iPhone stand as a testament to that vision.

I'm not going to further eulogize the man - Hundreds of people have done so far better than I ever could - Instead I'm going to re-open this blog by commenting on some of the commentary.
This entry may grow, or it may just remain the big two that caused me to write it - as always my blogging is totally mood-dependent.

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Apple is killing the XServe?

mikeg@bsd-box.net (mikeg) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 11:30:54 -0400

Apple Inc. announced today that the XServe is being discontinued effective January 31, 2011.
I believe this is a HUGE mistake on Apple's part as they have no other product which effectively fills this market space.

I'm not one of those "email the CEO because you changed the color of my case" shareholders, but this decision has occasioned my first email to The Steve. I have reproduced that email here to share my thoughts with the rest of you.

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