Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Politics”

Microsoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…

By FOSS Force on June 21, 2013 |

Internet, Mobile, News, Obits, Politics and Security

Microsoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson

Friday FOSS Week in Review

We may be paranoid but they are out to get us

In week three (or is it week four?) of the Spy vs. Spy scandal, the Obama folks keep saying things like “what’s the big deal?” while trying to convince us that the secret oversight court called FISA (we prefer “the Star Chamber”) has nothing but our constitutional rights in mind when it rubber stamps requests to secretly steal our privacy. Obama likes to talk about transparency. Indeed, he becomes more transparent by the moment; we’re beginning to see right through him. The 22nd amendment should now be seen as a face saver for Mr. Obama–as we would think no self respecting liberal or progressive would vote again for this man who once represented our best hope. Pity.

Continue readingMicrosoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…

Windows Blue Blues, Symantec’s Kernel Confusion & More…

By FOSS Force on June 14, 2013 |

Hardware, Internet, News and Politics

Friday FOSS Week in Review

Looking at life through the prism of the NSA

We thought last week was the week for leaked government secrets on government spying. Nope. Last week was just the tip of the iceberg coming over the horizon, with the helmsman going into full reverse attempting to avoid a collision. This week the slow motion ship of state made contact with the iceberg. Damage assessment is being done now as we write these words.

Continue readingWindows Blue Blues, Symantec’s Kernel Confusion & More…
Seeking Surveillance Safe Search Enginesixquick Safe Search Engine

Seeking Surveillance Safe Search Engines

By Christine Hall on June 14, 2013 |

Internet, Politics and Security

While helping our colleague Dave Bean as he worked to get his essay on Google and the NSA ready for publication, I found myself wondering if any of this latest news on the government’s forcing their nose into everybody-in-the-world’s business would have any lasting effect. Sadly, I figured not–if there was any change, it’d only be temporary. I’ve spent too many years on this planet to expect too much in the way of permanent change for the better.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingSeeking Surveillance Safe Search Engines
Google: The Thin Line between Search and Surveillance

Google: The Thin Line between Search and Surveillance

By Dave Bean on June 14, 2013 |

Copyright, Internet, Politics and Security

One could argue that Google is a corporation whose content and cash flow results from their ability to survey the Internet with unfettered access to users’ information under protection of the Safe Harbor Provision of the DMCA. The provision is a corporate loop-hole that allows Google to not be held responsible for content that might otherwise be personal, private, or illegal as defined by the U.S. Constitution and The Geneva Accords. Google claims to be software without moral judgment and purposely refuses to admit that it may be facilitating mafia-style corporations counterfeiting without license and thus profiting through illegal gain by eradicating people’s property rights as otherwise guaranteed.

Dave Bean

Dave Bean is an Internet Radio pioneer who has worked for Musicmatch Internet Radio, baseBeat.com, OnRadio.com; and currently as a Music Curator for Internet Radio at Slacker.com. As an owner of independent record labels, he was one of the first to license songs to eMusic and iTunes.

Continue readingGoogle: The Thin Line between Search and Surveillance

Poll: You Prefer Noncommercial Software

By FOSS Force on June 7, 2013 |

Internet, Politics, Polls and Software

According to our Software Preference Poll, FOSS Force visitors will use commercially developed software, especially if it’s the best software for the job, but would prefer to use community developed, noncommercial software. Absolutely none of our visitors said they’d prefer commercial software.

The poll, which ran from May 13, 2013 through 12:21 am EDT on June 7, posed the question, “Do you prefer open source software that’s commercially or community developed and distributed?” Those taking the poll were given three answers from which to make one choice:

Continue readingPoll: You Prefer Noncommercial Software
Aaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His SonJustice for Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His Son

By Christine Hall on June 6, 2013 |

Media and Politics

It’s time for me to write a very few words about Aaron Swartz.

When he died back in January, I didn’t write anything. I didn’t know him, but other writers did and they were busy grieving and sharing memories of him online and in print. The amount of love expressed for him was overwhelming.

I wanted to contribute my “two cents worth” to the dialog and comment on the politics that led to this young man so tragically taking his own life, but I kept quiet because I didn’t want to distract from the beautiful portrait that was being painted of him using the written word as a medium.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingAaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His Son
Internet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

Internet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

By Christine Hall on May 29, 2013 |

Internet, News, Politics and Security

Every school kid knows not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Up until about 1999 or so, I thought we were being cautious and smart about this newfangled Internet thing that had us under its spell. Then there was a now forgotten news story that told me exactly how completely we were being seduced by this new technology.

Microsoft was working on a new version of Windows, Whistler I think, and it got hacked. Somebody broke into the computer they had it on and downloaded it, which was big news in the tech press but hardly anywhere else. Microsoft audited the code, attempting to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with, and found it clean. There were no trojans or back doors installed. None they found anyway.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingInternet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

The Night the Digital Lights Went Out In Syria

By Christine Hall on May 8, 2013 |

Internet, Media, News and Politics

What does it mean when a whole country’s Internet goes down? When it’s a country racked by civil war, digital silence from the entire nation can’t be a good omen, can it? The country becomes like a submarine running in silence.

Last night I first saw the news when an old colleague from Rochdale College posted an article from Umbrella Security Labs, a research division of OpenDNS, to her Facebook wall. “BREAKING NEWS: TRAFFIC FROM SYRIA DISAPPEARS FROM INTERNET.”

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingThe Night the Digital Lights Went Out In Syria

Spy vs. Spy; Wikipedia Sports New DB & More…

By FOSS Force on May 3, 2013 |

Browsers, Distros, Humor, Internet, News, Politics, Security and Software

Friday FOSS Week in Review

Goodbye to Fuduntu, hello to FuSE

We already knew, of course, that Fuduntu was history, that the beloved distro was to be no more, evidently due to the fact that it was becoming nearly impossible to support GNOME 2 in any sort of meaningful way. We also knew there’d been talk among the developers at Fuduntu of continuing with a new distro. Well, now it’s a done deal and most of the developers of Fuduntu will be working on a new distro based on openSUSE.

Continue readingSpy vs. Spy; Wikipedia Sports New DB & More…

Senate To Kill Current Version Of CISPA

By Christine Hall on April 25, 2013 |

Internet, News, Politics and Security

U.S. News & World Report was the first to announce this afternoon that the Senate will evidently not vote on the cybersecurity bill known as the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act or CISPA. According to a report published on their website, the news organization has received assurances of the bill’s death from an unnamed member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that has been considering the bill as passed last week by the House of Representatives:

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingSenate To Kill Current Version Of CISPA
Latest Articles