Friday, November 1, 2002

Florida: The Sequel. Democrat Bill McBride is keeping the race for governor close, but the Bush brothers are going all-out to keep the Sunshine State in the family. [Salon.com] 10:23:51 AM

Jeb Bush's secret weapon. 94,000 people on a voter "purge" list -- half of them African-American -- continue to be banned from voting in Florida, even though the state knows the list is wildly inaccurate. [Salon.com] 10:22:22 AM

One nation, under the gun. The gun lobby has helped arm countless psychos. And now it's expanding its market to kids. [Salon.com] 3:38:33 AM

Defending the use of open source. A report reveals just how much the Department of Defense depends on open-source software and recommends steps to ensure that open source is recognized and accepted. [CNET News.com] It's stunning to me that Microsoft's lobbyists didn't squelch this report. In all other areas they are working to discredit and FUD Open Source software... 2:20:48 AM

Goliath crushes David. Even as it was fighting its antitrust battle with the feds, Microsoft was already on to Round 2: Winning the streaming-media wars. Second of two parts. [Salon.com] 2:17:19 AM

Liddy's free ride?. Elizabeth Dole hammers her Senate opponent for his ties to Wall Street. But she still won't answer questions about a political money scandal in her own past. [Salon.com] 1:30:52 AM

Hacking Victims' ID to Stay Secret. Senior law enforcement officials assured technology executives Thursday that government will increasingly work to keep secret the names of companies that become victims to major hacking crimes, along with any sensitive corporate disclosures that could prove embarrassing. [New York Times: Technology] This is the exact opposite way to go. The reason security isn't a big deal to so many people, especially "ordinary consumers," is because they have no idea how much money poor security is costing them. Financial services companies alone lose billions of dollars a year to fraud preventable by better security, and you know who pays for that? You do. Maybe if you knew how much of your credit card interest charges, or bank fees, or closing costs, etc., went to make up for preventable fraud, the companies would have to act, and close the holes. 1:22:19 AM

© Copyright 2003 Michael Alderete.