Postcards from the Bleeding Edge
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to American politics of late. At least one variant of SOPA, as proposed, will mess with DNSSEC.
I believe - wholeheartedly - that DNSSEC has the ability to improve the security of the Internet for everyone. It's a critical component of my cerowrt project, comcast just rolled it out nationwide, many other providers are also doing so, and that has taken tens of thousands of people, over 10 years of effort to accomplish.
I have also been working for years to make DNSSEC just work, only to look up now, to see clueless politicians in the pay of a a few lobbyists playing with technologies they don't understand.
I've been busy this year, on another front - trying - and succeeding!! - making the Internet, actually better, for everyone.
It really bugs me to see all the time, energy, and money, that can go into screwing up the internet, especially vs all the time, energy, and money that goes into making it better.
I don't have a comprehensive grip on what sopa does, but here's one reference that seems good. Doc Searls also ranted well...
Seeing wikipedia go dark today, was a terrible, terrible thing. I'd like to keep the light of knowledge, burning bright, throughout the world, for everyone, all the time.
Labels: sopa
¶ 9:44 AM 0 comments
Monday, January 16, 2012
Departing France for England, then 'home'.
So, I looked up, and realized that it was time to leave Paris.Tomorrow.
I'm sad to be packing up and leaving, and mad at myself on a few particulars, but on the whole, it's been a wonderful experience to have spent time in one of the still beating hearts of civilization.
As a tourist I got to see the Eiffel tower, and tour the entire Louvre - (it wasn't the Mona Lisa that grabbed me, it was the painting on the opposite side of the room that really blew my mind - and the statuary - oh, my!)
I ate dinner at nearly every restaurant between my apartment and my graciously donated office at LINCs lab, and a few other places. I got turned onto some wonderful places with friends that I will never find again. The wine, was wonderful... I had a couple dates, too, but romance escaped me - and I was working my brain dry... I spent 99.9 % of my time obsessively trying to beat the bloat.
I met some people I'd only corresponded with for years, helped a couple students, gave a couple talks, did a ton of research, and my life revolved around work, primarily. Darn it. Again.
There was so much more I could have done - in particular I'm sad I missed seeing both the catacombs and Monet's gardens, but I hope to be back one day, and those will be tops on my list. I wish also - although I fell in love with Duc Lombards and the two other big jazz clubs in Halles - that I'd actually got to *all* the jazz clubs, and seen some plays and concerts, but it was very hard to navigate alone...
I didn't manage to learn that much French. I will have to study the language far more fully before I choose to return. I did learn lua, though.
I'm off to London now for a week (I'm giving a talk at UKnof21), and I hope to spend time there, seeing things and people that I've always wanted to see, in that country. Then... Back to Florida to see my folks, and after that...
I have NO idea. Usually I write up a summary of the last year, and make some new years resolutions, and review the old, and I guess I'll start doing some of that, while trying to ingest as much of Europe as I can, in my time remaining here.
I wish I'd got to Amsterdam, Spain, and Italy on this trip, too.
Ahh, well. The work was good.
Labels: paris
¶ 8:53 AM 0 comments
