Internet on fire. Bill Gates to blame (again).

Internet Storm Center

] For all they share economically and culturally, Canada
] and the United States are increasingly at odds on basic
] social policies -- to the point that at least a few
] discontented Americans are planning to move north and try
] their neighbors' way of life.

CNN.com - Dismayed Americans contemplate Canada - Jul. 19, 2003

] A few weeks ago, you asked questions of Ryan Lackey, CTO
] for HavenCo, a company dedicated to providing secure
] off-shore data hosting from Sealand, a principality off
] the coast of England.

A little dated, but Ryan Lackey addresses real world questions about taking data havens out of sci-fi and into, in this case, the north sea.

Slashdot | Answers From Sealand: CTO Ryan Lackey Responds

] After more than a year of complaints by some US anti-war
] activists that they were being unfairly targeted by
] airport security, Washington has admitted the existence
] of a list, possibly hundreds or even thousands of names
] long, of people it deems worthy of special scrutiny at
] airports.

Washington admits that it keeps a "political" no fly list as well as a terrorist no fly list.

Washington cops to political no-fly-list.

] Volume 8, Number 8 August 4th 2003
]
] The Augmented Social Network: Building identity and trust
] into the next-generation Internet
] by Ken Jordan, Jan Hauser, and Steven Foster
]
] A social ecology of wireless technology
] by Critical Friends of Technology
]
] The ecology the connecticon
] by Frank Rennie and Robin Mason
]
] Open content and value creation
] by Magnus Cedergren

Wow... First Monday will go for months with nothing *really* juicy and then BAM, a tour-de-force of interesting and fresh ideas. Read this entire issue. I know. I know. You are surfing then net, at work, and looking for a quicky distraction while waiting for something to compile. Reading this is actually going to take time. Fuck you, slacker. Read it.

First Monday August 2003

] Retired Adm. John Poindexter, who created a firestorm
] this week with his plan to create a futures market that
] would capitalize on predicting terror attacks, will
] resign in coming weeks from his post at the Pentagon, a
] senior defense official said Thursday.

CNN.com - Poindexter to resign in coming weeks following terror futures flap - Jul. 31, 2003

] Sen. Norm Coleman on Thursday began an inquiry into the
] recording industry's copyright lawsuits against online
] music swappers, saying the tactics could ensnare innocent
] people.

Sen. Norm Coleman raises eyebrow at RIAA

] He says criticism that terrorists could have profited
] from the market are overblown, since the architects of
] the exchange were not planning on allowing any wagers
] greater than about $100.

Forbers likes assassination politics, and thinks that this will come up again. I'm glad to hear that they had a wager cap, but what are the odds associated with a highly accurate prediction? Can I get 1000 to 1 on something if I pick an exact date? Cause $100,000 goes a long way in place like Afghanistan.

Update:I've now heard that the max GAIN from a trade was set at $100. That changes the picture entirely. There is really nothing wrong with such a system if such limits are in place, assuming they cannot be circumvented. I remain skeptical, as the press reports clearly contradict eachother, on not just this but other points as well. Supporters and detracters seem to differ on how anonymous this system was supposed to be.

Fortune.com - Investing - Is a Futures Market on Terror Outlandish?

] The Pentagon is setting up a commodity-market style
] trading system in which investors would be able to bet on
] political and economic events in the Middle East
] including the likelihood of assassinations and terrorist
] attacks.

To quote the Onion: Holy Fucking Shit. But, this isn't a joke.

Pentagon sets up Jim Bell's Assassination Politics!

] ATHF is an animated television masterpiece that
] captures the day to day lives of three fast food
] (literally...) detectives and follows them through
] their misadventures as they try and solve the
] hilarious mysteries presented to them in Southern
] New Jersey. 

Aqua Teen Hunger Force