Please, someone tell me where this is going to break the internet. It is absolutely clear that this law only applies to sites committing piracy and theft. There is a burden of proof on the state to appear before a court and justify a request for an injunction. There is an appeals process that includes unreasonable economic burden of compliance (Sec 102 (c)(4)(C)).

Why is everyone so insane about this? Can anyone explain it to me?


SOPA (H.R.3261) in a nutshell:

102 (a) Definition- For purposes of this section, a foreign Internet site or portion thereof is a `foreign infringing site' if--
102 (a)(1) the Internet site or portion thereof is a U.S.-directed site and is used by users in the United States;
102 (a)(2) the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under section 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90, of title 18, United States Code; and
102 (a)(3) the Internet site would, by reason of acts described in paragraph (1), be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.

102 (b)(5) RELIEF- On application of the Attorney General following the commencement of an action under this section, the court may issue a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or an injunction, in accordance with rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, against a registrant of a domain name used by the foreign infringing site or an owner or operator of the foreign infringing site or, in an action brought in rem under paragraph (2), against the foreign infringing site or a portion of such site, or the domain name used by such site, to cease and desist from undertaking any further activity as a foreign infringing site.

102 (c)(4)(A) IN GENERAL- To ensure compliance with orders issued pursuant to this section, the Attorney General may bring an action for injunctive relief--
102 (c)(4)(A)(i) against any entity served under paragraph (1) that knowingly and willfully fails to comply with the requirements of this subsection to compel such entity to comply with such requirements; or
102 (c)(4)(A)(ii) against any entity that knowingly and willfully provides or offers to provide a product or service designed or marketed for the circumvention or bypassing of measures described in paragraph (2) and taken in response to a court order issued pursuant to this subsection, to enjoin such entity from interfering with the order by continuing to provide or offer to provide such product or service.
102 (c)(4)(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- The authority granted the Attorney General under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be the sole legal remedy to enforce the obligations under this section of any entity described in paragraph (2).
102 (c)(4)(C) DEFENSE- A defendant in an action under subparagraph (A)(i) may establish an affirmative defense by showing that the defendant does not have the technical means to comply with this subsection without incurring an unreasonable economic burden, or that the order is not authorized by this subsection.

102 (d)(2) RELIEF- Relief under this subsection shall be proper if the court finds that--
102 (d)(2)(A) the foreign Internet site subject to the order is no longer, or never was, a foreign infringing site; or
102 (d)(2)(B) the interests of justice otherwise require that the order be modified, suspended, or vacated.

Sorry sheep, global warming is NOT settled science

I have had some interesting discussions lately on Google+ about global warming.

I want to make this as clear and direct as I know how:
If you are a person who looks at satellite data from the 1980s, see a temperature trend line with positive slope, and declare it to be proof of global warming...okay. Proof might be a bit of a strong word for ten year's data, but I'll give it to you.
If you then look at satellite data from the 1990s, see a temperature trend line with positive slope, and declare it to be further proof of your previous statement...okay.
If you then look at satellite data (same satellites, same sensor packs) from the 2000s, see a temperature trend line with negative slope, and declare that the data needs to be adjusted for this reason or that reason...
YOU ARE NOT A SCIENTIST!!
You are a charlatan, a shill, a fraud who will do anything to make the data fit your preconceptions. But you are not a scientist.

Here is the data from the RSS satellite. I've done the analysis on some of the data sets. Do the anyalysis yourself, I've included the raw data too. If you cannot at least admit that there is room for discussion, I don't know how to help you.

RSS Data (excel file)

RSS Raw Data Set (text file)

My take on the Amazon Fire

Okay, just to get things going...

1. A 7" screen is not big enough to qualify as a tablet computer. Think about it...a paperback novel is 8" diagonal. Do you really think that's big enough for web surfing?
2. E-ink is amazing for reading text, LCD screens...not so much. 
3. I know Amazon is actively promoting the whole cloud idea, but there are some things I just want to keep on my tablet all the time. So having 8 GB with no SD expansion? I really think that's about as close as it gets to being a deal-breaker for me. I have more than 8 GB of mp3's just of Mozart!
4. Under 15 oz. is a plus. I've tried some other readers that do get heavy after a while.
5. No 3G whispernet like you get the with the full-priced Kindle readers. This relates back to my other point...if you only have 8 GB of storage and you have to be at a WiFi connection to get something off the Amazon cloud. 

So as far as I can see, it's still a toss-up between the Amazon Fire and the Nook Color. They are similar in size, weight, screen resolution, battery life...the Fire has a much faster processor...but the Nook Color has expandable memory...but the Fire is $50 cheaper...

So I didn't see any reason to start doing handsprings when the specs were announced, and it hasn't gotten any better. I'm sure Amazon will sell millions of these, but I'm going to wait and see if B&N really is bringing out a new model Nook Color...and I want to see the Archos G9 series with 250 GB of storage.

For now...IPad killer? No way. Not even a Nook Color killer as far as I can tell.