I just voted in Minnesota's primary election. I've never done that before.
I used to believe voting was pointless and made no difference. I even had
a moral objection that voting would signal my acceptance of a social
contract I didn't agree with. Now, I've realized that while it may make
little difference, it can't hurt. And it doesn't take much of my time. I
follow political events closely anyway, and try to read up on local events
before the election.
As for the social contract bit, well, as was yelled at my friend
Ry4an once, "You aren't special, princess!" It
doesn't matter if I've agreed with the social contract. Society binds
everyone to it. Fortunately, my society is still open to change. It's hard
and takes a long time, but possible. So I have to do everything I can to
help change society to be the way I think it should be. That includes
voting for the canidates with policies I support.
Worth 1000 had a
contest to show what the WTC site will look like in 2009. My favorite is
Highest Bidder.
Kevin Burton linked to
some photos from Worth 1000's
If Hackers Ruled contest. I like
CLasSRumE,
End of the Road, but especially
WH331 0PH PH0R7UN3.
ArsTechnica:
Luna shall never be the same. This reminds me of
The Man Who Sold The Moon.
I hate to stand in the way of progress, but I hope that whatever
development we do on the Moon is unobtrusive, because I don't want to ruin
the view from Earth. Maybe it all the huge moon cities could be put on the
dark side. On the other hand, maybe it would be glorious to see the lights
of human habitation on the moon at night, like the
Earth at night.
The Register:
Intel's
new chip for security Renaissance. I am not happy with this. I hope we
have enough time to build a DRM-free economy before the big hardware and
content companies shove it down our throats.
Some Confusing or Loaded Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding:
Digital Rights Management.