A new bill supported by a bipartisan coalition of Senators and privacy-rights groups was introduced to Congress late last week. The Security And Freedom Ensured Act (SAFE Act) would limit or eliminate some of the most onerous domestic spying provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. Read all about it, then find out how you can lend your support.
Tech pundit/crank John C. Dvorak has a rant against the DMCA over at the PC Magazine web site. This is a lot like most other rants against the DMCA, except that Dvorak is using his stature (some would say notoriety) to call for a congressional “hit-list” of DMCA supporters in a very public forum. Expect the results of the shake-down to appear in his column this week.
I wound up on my college buddy Jen’s professional web page the other night, and read the following inferiority-complex-inducing blurb:
I am a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona in the Soil, Water, and Environmental Science department working under Raina Maier. I am researching in situ production of biosurfactants, and specifically, their effect on the mobilization of metals in soil.
I have a M.S. in physics from Michigan State University, where I worked at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory under Gary Westfall. While there I constructed fiber-optic cables for the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR).
Pardon me while I put on my dunce cap and go drool in the corner for a little while.
Historically, it’s not been a problem in my office if I keep my own hours. I regularly put in more than eight hours a day, anyway. My new supervisor, however, is a stickler for punctuality and has started to require that I arrive at or close to 8am and leave at or close to 5pm unless my workload absolutely requires staying late (I give her props for this, since I’m salaried and she’s not saying it to save on overtime).
This has been a major adjustment since I had my body all tuned up for a different schedule and I’m not a morning person anyway, but it’s been worthwhile. All the good office gossip and socializing goes on first thing in the morning, for example. Being here on time every day helps make sure that I get in on the latest dirt and, more importantly, get to increase my visibility and maintain good coworker relationships. Yeah office politics sucks, but I’m lucky to work with good folks that are actually fun to talk to. Besides, by showing up earlier I get in on the donuts, bagels, and other free goodies people sometimes bring or exercise my generous streak by bringing some of my own.
All in all, I think I like this new leaf I’ve turned over so far. I wonder if this means I’m becoming a grownup or something? [shudder]
Well this is embarrassing. Apparently, my dire warnings of the end of Microsoft’s free MSN Messenger instant messaging service were based on a misinterpretation of the original article I read on the topic.
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