Gongol.com Archives: 2015 Weekly Archives
December 31, 2015

December 30, 2015


The case is from 2004



There's simply no perfect solution for companies like Twitter. The new language codifies a philosophy that intimidation is as rivalrous to free speech as explicit censorship. And yet there's the ironic condition that letting hateful people use platforms like Twitter for speech makes them easier to find, call out, and counteract. Sometimes, it's even useful to let terrorists tweet (it can help identify where to drop bombs, just for example). The problem is that services like Twitter and Facebook land on a nebulous boundary between "open" and "closed" societies and ways of thinking. The evildoers who wants closedness also want to take advantage of the tools of openness.

December 29, 2015

Who knew there was still upside to be gained?

Alternate title: "America about to give itself yet another graduate course in the Law of Unintended Consequences".

The FCC leaked pictures

A resource bonanza is a lot of fun while it lasts, but it takes serious discretion and foresight to reinvest bonanza profits in long-term growth

At least he wasn't wearing Heelys?

Once they stop earning interest, they need to be converted to something productive

Science!

Or maybe both?

"Then the people will know that we stand for a more prosperous, a more secure, a more confident America. And the rest? Well, the rest will be up to the people -- as it should be."

The driver was pretty dumb here, saying she didn't know how many pounds were in a ton (If you don't know how much a ton is, Google it.). But what's the point of letting nostalgia get in the way of modern infrastructure needs? A "historic bridge" is usually just another way of saying "something we should have replaced a long time ago, but now have 'the feels' about and refuse to pay for the proper maintenance thereof." The pictures show a rusty old pile of iron.



Doing so only encourages "like farming"

Slaves! In 2015! The word "outrage" isn't close to being enough. We also need to clean up our own domestic problem with sex trafficking, which really ought to be known as enslavement rape.
December 28, 2015

The potential orphaning of Thunderbird is sad

Never give power to yourself that you wouldn't want your opponents to have available to use against you


Very bad news for Canada and for North Dakota, indeed.

Nothing more than an artistic experiment, but interesting nonetheless