SCA Fundraiser CDs

Thanks to tpau for the pointer to this neat pair of albums that have been recently released. In order to raise funds for the settlement, a bunch of the Society's better bards have joined together to create a very high-quality sampler collection of SCA bardic music. Looks like fine stuff -- I expect that I'll get a copy, and y'all may want to give it a look...

The relentless rise of Mobile

From this week's LinkedIn trawl comes this fascinating slide deck from Business Insider. It's basically an examination of the mobile market, with some thoughts about where it is going. Most of it is interesting but not surprising, but one slide does set me back on my heels a bit:

It took AOL 9 years to get to 1 million users.
It took Facebook 9 months.
It took "Draw Something" 9 days.

Sometimes we find that we are living in science fiction. Only this time, it's the business side more than the tech side. This reminds me of nothing so much as some of the speculations from 2000AD about fad culture and where it was going...

Harms of Post-9/11 Airline Security

Thanks to herooftheage for the pointer to this strongly-worded but damning final statement on the TSA by Bruce Schneier. Even by his standards this is blunt stuff, but IMO looks correct: that the TSA has gone far beyond being merely ineffective, to being outright harmful to the country in a variety of ways. It's time to stop the stupid...

This year's prize for "Best Use of the Moral High Ground" goes to...

Thanks to wiglaf_aaronm for the link to this article in the Washington Post, about how the landlord of an abortion clinic is handling some of the nastier protests he has to deal with.

I'm impressed with this guy's principles and nerve. His response is utterly appropriate, and it sounds like he's drawing such a clear line between appropriate and inappropriate forms of protest that it serves as a serious role model. It reminds me a bit of some of the best protest movements: firm and clear, with none of the wishy-washy excessive niceness that the center is too prone to, but carefully avoiding violence or intimidation...