…the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled courts may require search warrants for cell phone location records.

This is a huge win for privacy advocates.

Now, to be clear, this ruling doesn’t say the courts MUST require warrants, but it does – at least – give judges the option if they feel it’s, um, warranted. (from ‘Court rules your cellphone may not have to give up its location data to the feds’, by David Gewirtz)

I think a parent has a right to track the GPS location of their kids’ eChastity Belts; but the government only has a righteous need to know where individuals related to to an active criminal or terrorist investigation are lurking, and (perhaps) where it’s Welfare dollars are being spent.

If you aren’t in fight-or-flight mode, aren’t texting your mentor in Pakistan, aren’t making long-distance calls to known miscreants on the terrorist watch list — you should have a reasonable certainty that you don’t have your own dedicated satellite (at least from Sunday through Friday afternoon).

BUT if you REVERSE it, the American People SHOULD actually have a right to monitor the location of every elected official, and every federal/state/county/city employee, at all times — we are their employers, after all.

Seated in the Indianapolis area, but would welcome telecommuting situations as well. Comfortable with on-call (24/7) requirements and some travel.

WordPress, FileMaker Pro, Adobe Creative Suites and ‘the cloud’ are favorite environments; big fan of open source deployments and low-footprint workflows where high functionality / low risk & cost are sought for distributed and volunteer efforts. http://www.scribd.com/dan_oblak

This is what I’ve set up at http://twtbizcard.com/macbigot . The service is free and simple to use: Just add the hashtag ‘#twtbizcard’ to a @reply to any Twitter user, and they will receive a link directly to your card, with as much information as you can cram into it.

Then, the site keeps track of which cards you have received, and who you’ve sent cards to.

Why is this so attractive to busy networking people? It’s a lot easier to exchange Twitter handles than phone numbers or even email addresses… so if you’re not active on Twitter yet, it’s likely time to at least set up an account: http://Twitter.com .

“The poor have been voting democrat for 50 years and they’re still poor.” -Charles Barkley

I wonder what happened to the people in Congress who used to believe our actual enemy was tyranny, famine, pestilence, and foreign invaders? Must no longer be ‘cool’ to think that any more.

I have had dozens of conversations in the last year in which my Left-leaning friends are SHOCKED to learn that we Conservatives don’t want orphans to starve, immigrants to drown on their way here, and oil barons to rule the world with an iron money clip.

And those conversations make me angry — not just because these caricatures are baseless; but because I have a higher expectation of my fellow man than to believe the average American can consider divisive people like Katie Couric and Keith Olberman to be moral arbitors.

Can the country really be so weak-minded? I keep hearing Republicans call Glenn Beck a liar (apparently he is too much Conservative and too little — if at all — Republican); yet from the dozens of his shows I have caught, I have never once heard him say anything that I could not independently verify.

So everyone seems to prefer to sell lies for votes, and mistrust for allegiance. Impressive.

I will say to both political parties the same thing that I said to the Dems when John Kerry was running against Bush: ‘Is this truly the best you (we) can do?’ And to the Republicans, now: McCain? Really?

Finally, here is one writer’s take on the dichotomy of the Liberal mind (h/t to IOWAHAWK for sharing), and the reason I am thinking today about cranial misfires:

Why I Am A Democrat

I sometimes hear the question, “Why are you a Democrat?” and frankly, I have to laugh. Laugh and laugh, because perhaps this person may tire of my laughing, and he will eventually wander off. Sometimes I ponder seriously when I hear this question, because I’ll look around and around and there’s nobody there asking the question. Why am I a Democrat?

I am a Democrat because I believe everyone deserves a chance. And if necessary, a second chance. And if, by the eighth or ninth chance, this guy needs another chance, I mean, come on. This guy is due.

I am a Democrat because I believe in helping those in need. All of us, you and I, have an obligation to those less fortunate. You go first, okay? I’m a little short this week.

I am a Democrat because I believe in the equality of all people, regardless of their race. That is why I think we should give free medical degrees to minorities because, well, duh. Like any of those types are going to make it through medical school.

I am a Democrat because I fervently believe in tolerance. Tolerance is critical in our diverse society, and if you have a problem with that, mister, then I will inform the authorities and I bet that after a few hours in their “special room” you too will agree that tolerance is critical.

I am a Democrat because I believe that we should take our noses out of other people’s bedrooms. I say we move the noses to their banks and storage sheds and scout troops, and so forth.

I am a Democrat because I hold sacred freedom of the press, as well as freedom of the TV and freedom of the movie. Where I draw the line is freedom of the talk radio, and don’t even get me started about that damn Internet business.

I am a Democrat because I recognize that education is important. Very, very, extremely very important. We must increase spending on education and enact important education reforms, such as eliminating standardized tests. Because we can never hope to measure this beautiful, elusive, important thing we call education.

I am a Democrat because I believe in the separation of church and state. We must stop the religious extremists who want school-sanctioned prayers. Now, you tell me – with all that chanting and praying and incense-burning going on, how can our kids concentrate on the big condom-and-banana midterm?

I am a Democrat because I believe in the rights of women, be they lawyers or housewives or skanky interns. For too long women have been the victims of discrimination, and we must target programs to help these women, and also the various people who have descended from women.

I am a Democrat because I believe in women’s right to choose. I mean, not a church school or a tax shelter, or something like that, obviously. Let’s be reasonable.

I am a Democrat because I believe in the rule of law. Or, at least, lawyers. Because hey, according to my attorney, I could have been on the Number 7 bus when it crashed yesterday. As far as you know.

I am a Democrat because I believe a healthy economy depends on good jobs at good wages. So fork ‘em over, you fat b@stard boss man.

I am a Democrat because I believe the government should step in to create good jobs when that fat b@stard boss man moves my good job to Mexico. Hey, I know! Maybe we can take all the money that boss man spends on non-job-creating stuff, like solid gold yachts and mink spats, and use that money to create jobs.

I am a Democrat because I fear the power of giant unrestrained monopolies, such as Microsoft, Nike, Parker Brothers, Univac and the Erie Canal Company. The government must wage an unrelenting, all-out war to crush these scary monopolies to a pulp before they get too powerful.

I am a Democrat because I believe in a strong military. Strong, yes, but caring and thoughtful too, and ready to face new challenges. A military that enjoys long strolls on the beach, cuddling in front of a warm fire, unafraid to show its vulnerable side. Must be NS/DDF.

I am a Democrat because I believe there is too much violence in society, especially in our schools. To avoid another Columbine tragedy, we should have mellow “rap” sessions with at-risk teens, such as the Goths. The violence will only end after the teen Goths see that we adults really care, and are “hip” to their groovy teen Goth scene.

I am a Democrat because I believe in campaign finance reform. Sadly, our politics are dominated by advertisements, paid for by the contributions of giant corporations. All too often, these drown out legitimate grassroots opinions, like the kind heard on TimeWarner-AOL-CNN, TimesCorp, or Disney-ABC.

I am a Democrat because I believe in public support of the arts. By “the arts,” I of course mean those things made by, or excreted by, an artist of some sort. It is especially important that art be provocative and take controversial stances, like opposing Jesse Helms, and so on.

I am a Democrat because I believe in the environment and conservation. For instance, we must raise the price of gasoline, like they do in Europe, to increase conservation. If we don’t, there will soon be a big gas shortage, and this will mean higher gasoline prices for you and me.

I am a Democrat because I detest greed. Especially the sickening greed of those who struck it rich in the 1980s, and greedily refuse to give me any of their stuff.

I am a Democrat because I… hey look! A new episode of Survivor! Geez, I hope they don’t vote off Jenna, she’s my favorite.

This year, please do some homework before you vote. If you are one of the many who are disparaging Fox News — because you think they are being unfair — perhaps you yourself can let up on the countless hours of inhaling the fumes at Huffington Post?

The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER (OLD VERSION)

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE (OLD) STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

———-

The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER (MODERN VERSION)

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, And ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green…’

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.”

Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper’s sake, and whimpers, “Gawd DANG the hill-makers!”

President Obama points out that it’s clear the ant ‘acted stupidly’ and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper’s plight.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the Grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Janeane Garofalo appears in half a dozen YouTube videos, ranting about ‘Green Hate’ being the only reason the ant has no moral barriers to being an Oppressor.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of non-ants and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the ‘Green Czar’ and redistributed to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant’s old house crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn’t maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is later found dead and in possession of some bad grass — and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire neighborhood collapses, then the city, then the county, then finally the state takes notice and steps in to restore order — but the Federal Government intercedes to inform the State that Congress has finally disposed of the rest of the Constitution and the State no longer has the right to police itself. The country falls to chaos, bringing the rest of the free world with it. The only survivors are half of Congress, most of Hollywood, and the major news networks (from this point on, there is never a lack for bad news to report).

MORAL OF THE (NEW) STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.

It’s a good thing that I have more than one browser. I avoid using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer like the plague — it’s a puss-filled excuse for a portal to the world. My weapon of choice is Firefox, which I use about 95% of the time; but I also have Chrome and Safari to test any dramatic changes I’ve strong-armed on web sites I create. Each of them excel in their own way — too bad I can’t pick their advantages ‘a la carte’ and leave the dross behind.

I tried all the standard browser troubleshooting through the morning (rebooting, FLUSHDNS, clearing history and cookies, etc.) — but saw no improvement.

After a bunch of searching, I found lots of people chiming in about disabling the GMail Notifier. So I tried disabling it under Tools/Add-ons, and now GMail and Google Calendar are working again. I even turned the GMail notifier back on later, and nothing broke this time.

If you’re interested, GMail Notifier is a service that camps out in your Windows system tray (bottom-right-hand corner of your screen), or in the menu bar of your Mac to show a pop-up when you’ve received incoming messages. There are also a bunch of other tools that do the same thing; one of them might be more to your liking, so check out this list at “15 tools for the Gmail addict” (CNet.com).

Oh, and because I love you, here’s a quick tip for everyone on other platforms: “How to flush DNS cache in Linux / Windows / Mac” (TechieCorner.com).

At least this time, these jerks were kind enough to leave their URL visible in the address bar. But they’re not always in such a nice mood. Sometimes, they will leave ‘facebook.com’ at the beginning of the address and hide their real destination further down the line. Most users will not pay attention to what’s on the address bar, or what URL is behind a link they’re about to click on… And that’s how they get to you and your computer.

Let’s be careful out there.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!
A friend sent this along to me. I can’t think of a reason to disagree.

I am sending this to virtually everybody on my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. My friend and neighbor wants to promote a “Congressional Reform Act of 2010″. It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and would be violently opposed by virtually if not all of our incumbent Senators and Representatives.

I know many of you will say, “this is impossible”. Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress – the entity that represents us, and were ‘hired’ by us.

We need to find a Senator with enough integrity and intestinal fortitude to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a similarly disposed Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American hero’s..

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************
Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

Because the fine folks at Bare Bones Software do not have Windows versions of my favorite text editors (they are a MacOS-only developer), I had to audition about a dozen tools to manage the same kind of powerful search-and-replace features that I had been accustomed to on the Mac.

The winner turned out to be an open source (free) utility called Notepad++, which does just about everything that I am used to having in TextWrangler — with the exception of the ability to sort lines (which I can still do in Excel if necessary).

The following instructions are to answer two questions:

1) How do we get around the host’s limit of 250 SMTP (outbound messages sent with email software on your laptop) messages per 24-hour period? [Note that there is no limit to outbound messages sent from the host's webmail interface.]

2) How do we format the body of a message so that it will look presentable on all/most email clients? [A high priority is to include inline images -- that should not appear to recipients as attachments.]

——————————————————————–

For part (1), realize that there are actually THREE methods to send email with your hosted email account:

A) Using the webmail client provided by the host

B) Using email software on your PC/Mac/handheld (Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Entourage, iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.)

C) Giving your GMail account access to send and receive your hosted mail.

For this exercise, we will be concentrating on (C), which gets around usability issues (A) and SMTP limits (B) of the other two options.

You will need:

- Your hosted email username (NAME@YOURDOMAIN.COM) and password
- A free GMail account (go to http://GMail.com to create one if you don’t have one yet.)

After you get logged in on Gmail.com, navigate this way to add your hosted email account to your GMail account:

/ Settings / ‘Accounts and Import’ tab / ‘Send mail as:’ section / ‘Send mail from another address’ /

After you go through the steps as GMail will prompt you, there will be a new feature added to the top of every new message you compose — which is, a pull-down menu that lets you select WHICH email address this message will be sent from (your hosted account, or your GMail.com account).

There are no limits to how many emails a day you can send this way; though we recommend that you put no more than 100 recipients in the BCC field each time you send.

OPTIONAL: In the same area under ‘Settings’, you can have the GMail account receive inbound messages that land in your hosted account. This is not necessary for this exercise; but may be convenient for some users. To do so, navigate here:

/ Settings / ‘Accounts and Import’ tab / ‘Check mail using POP3:’ section / ‘Add POP3 email account’

——————————————————————–

For part (2), you’ll need to make a minor change to your GMail account to add an ‘Insert Image’ button to the toolbar.

Instructions are here:
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-in-labs-inserting-images.html”>

Some things to remember when designing the message body:

- Not all email clients present content the same way. Keep things as simple as possible.

- Graphics should never be larger than 600 pixels wide. Resize them BEFORE adding them to the message.

- Some email clients will block images no matter what you do. Remember to include enough appropriate text content so every recipient understands your message.