There really is a whole lot more to the world than the Macintosh.
This page provides links to perspectives on current issues that may
have nothing at all to do with computers. Newest links are listed above
older ones.
The Open Link Policy, 8/20.
Webmasters band together to encourage deep links, protect content.
Don't link or I'll sue!, Salon, 8/12. "Links are the Web's essence
and its genius. Every public Web page's URL, its address, is available
to all; we can point any Web page to any other."
Is
linking always legal? Experts aren't sure, New York Times, 8/6.
"Especially controversial is the use of so-called "deep" links, which
point directly to Web pages or other content within another
site...."
Third Voice and
copyright, Larry Rosenstein, Mac Musings, 6/15. "If I download one
of your pages, I'm free to do whatever I want with it on my
computer."
Third Voice, boon or bane?, The iMac NewsPage, 6/14. "...if
webmasters want improved feedback and interactivity with their readers,
it's best left to them to decide how to achieve this...."
Say No to Third Voice.
"This software is interpreted to be a violation of copyright and should
be investigated on a Federal Level...."
Privacy, Internet Security
Now
you are an enemy of the state, Jesse Berst, ZDNet, 8/23. "...the
U.S. Department of Justice wants the right to break into your home and
(without your knowledge) disable the security precautions on your
computer. Then it can track and trace everything you do."
Furor
rising over PC wiretap plan, ZDNet, 8/20. "The plan is 'an
unprecedented attempt by the Clinton administration to impose "big
brother" monitoring powers over American citizens.'"
DOJ
wants to bug PCs, ZDNet, 8/20. "Under the proposed 'Cyberspace Electronic Security
Act,' investigators armed with a sealed warrant could comb
computers for passwords and install devices that override encryption
programs...."
Big Brother wants to read your email, Charles W. Moore, MacTimes,
6/28. British government wants ISPs to provide police with ability to
intercept internet traffic.
Massive internet tapping revealed,
MacOS Rumors, 5/27. "...a large majority of Internet traffic, including
personal/business communication such as email, is being passively
tapped...."
U.S.
uses key escrow to steal secrets, TechWeb, 5/18. "European plans
for controlling encryption software are nothing to do with law
enforcement and everything to do with U.S. industrial
espionage...."
Careful, they
might hear you, The Age, 5/23 [Slashdot]
Echelon system has US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
"illicitly pick up commercial satellite communications."
Fewer than 50% of parents closely monitor kids' net use, MacTimes,
6/1. "Disturbingly, 18% of 62 children aged 8 to 18 surveyed say they
plan to meet someone they have met on the Internet face to face."
Australians demonstrate against net censorship, MacTimes,
5/28.
Australian
Broadcasting Authority given power to censor Internet, Australian
Broadcasting Corp., 5/26 [Slashdot]
"The broadcasting authority will be given responsibility for ordering
the removal or blocking of pornographic, violent or otherwise offensive
websites, newsgroups and databases."
A bit more information on
Yahoo.
Amazon
reverses decision on book ban, ZDNet, 5/20
"The book (A Piece
of Blue Sky), a critical examination of Scientology and its
founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was pulled by Amazon in February after an
injunction against its distribution in the United Kingdom." (I waited
to post this until Amazon listed the book. dk 5/26)
Thin Edge Of The Wedge: Why Internet Censorship Is A Bad Idea,
MacTimes, 5/17
Net censorship and Apple, Don Crabb, ZDNet, 5/7
"The Internet, in fact, did nothing, except provide an inexpensive and
readily available information conduit that may have allowed those kids
to proclaim their own violent alienation from our society in the form
of a Web site and postings on AOL."
Alienation, Student Rights
Geek
unions?, Jon Katz, Slashdot, 7/6. What if high school geeks were to
organize and promote their interests in our schools?
Suffer the
(white, middle-class) children, The Village Voice, 6/25
"Some French theorist . . . deduced quite some time back that school
(just like work or the army) is a jail-shaped box: a containment system
to keep people in a useful order, brutally if necessary."
More on Slashdot.
Blaming Internet for school violence scapegoats real problem,
MacTimes, 5/24
"Bluntly stated, moral relativism and situational ethics have rendered
many people incapable of judging right from wrong."
Have we
grown deaf to the plight of alienated teens?, USA Today, 5/21
"School districts that have enacted strict rules against bullying have
taken a key step toward imposing the discipline of civility on their
students. But more is required."
A Student Bill of Rights,
Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 5/19
"What happened in Littleton was inexcusable, but it was also a
consequence of students being dumped on by their peers."
Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for
all. Computers are like that. Please report errors to
Dan Knight
.
Letters sent to Low End Mac may or may not be published at the editor's
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specifically requests it. If you prefer that your message not be
published on Low End Mac, clearly mark your message "not for
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house style.
LINK POLICY: This site allows and encourages
links to any public page, so long as the linked page does not appear
within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked page.
PRIVACY POLICY: In brief, we don't collect
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Low End Mac is an independent publication
and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple
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registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and
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