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I'm curious - even if you have a domain that points to tumblr via A records (as detailed http://www.tumblr.com/docs/custom_domains) then you are still at the mercy of tumblr...aren't you? I suppose that the upside of using your domain is that you can point it elsewhere if something like this happens (assuming that you backed up your content) and any users you have still use the same domain.

Can you elaborate on the type of documentation you use false DCMA claims?

Well - he is human though he can have a new site now called "backup horrors". All kidding aside - this is horrible. How many people validate their backups on a regular basis? (even once a year)

The barn door was closed with this act until 1999 when it was repealed. How is that "closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out"?

I heard about Glass-Steagall last month on NPR via Robert Reich (http://marketplace.publicradio.org//display/web/2009/11/04/p...)

It sounds like a better approach then many regulations that lead to very little.

If you are going to be the only programmer on the project then your reasons make sense. However, if you are going to have other people on the projects - then your reasons do not make sense from a longer term point of view. How many lisp programmers do you have out there as compared to python or ruby programmers? If you and the founders decide to go your separate ways how likely is the project going to be continued in lisp?

It seems like a somewhat precarious decision to let you use Lisp for this project. There's nothing supremely special about the problem you are attacking that warrants Lisp (outside of your comfort level which you clarified very clearly in your post).

Perhaps I'm just old and cynical but I've been on too many projects where the first (and therefore "lead") developer chose a particular language and architecture that in the long term was not sustainable.

Forgive my cynicism but when exactly is Perl 6 coming out? Python 3 is already out and it was a concerted effort to clean the things that began to pollute the language. Perl 6 is supposedly doing the same thing...but the need to throw everything out makes its delivery rather questionable...I think our sun may become a red giant before Perl 6 shows up.

This is the crux of the problem. Physical (and network) access can always break any security because you have a million vectors of attack - physical hardware, software, etc.. . And how secure is your laptop when its in your possession? As laptops become smaller (i.e. netbooks) they'll be as easily stolen as one's wallet.

Frankly, most people's data is really not that important and the cinderblock attack is what truecrypt and similar crypto systems prevent. Every time you see a news item about "a million social security numbers have been compromised " - its always due to the cinderblock attack.

The "only" way to secure your data is to put your computer it in a vault (unplugged from AC outlet and no network access) with multiple physical security and surrounded by people with guns. If your data is that important and you can afford this sort of security...then the evil maid attack is irrelevant.

That's a very good point. I went to a state university - for the first 2 years I was a commuter and the last 2 years I stayed at a dorm. It was 2 different worlds. For the first 2 years, I felt it was more a continuation of high school (i.e. when you get your driver's license and you don't need to get on the yellow bus). The last 2 years were a partial step into the "real world" - deal with an annoying roommate who has the TV on all the time and negotiate, chat with professors after class without hurrying home, socialize beyond interaction in class.

Well the Primer will certainly not be a kindle...an apple tablet maybe :-) . All kidding aside, Stephenson's book more focuses on kids without easy access to education getting the power of education. Its more along the OLPC route.

Thanks - that is exactly what I meant.

How can you not like an article that involves cake, pirates, and property taxes?

One thing that I wonder is how is a self reinforcing transaction affected when the third parties that used to mediate it are shut out. For example, certificate authority companies that are no longer needed.

Furthermore, the "all hands" in the room as opposed to secret ballot voting - while on the surface it is self reinforcing from a social perspective it wouldn't really work (i.e. the coercion he mentioned and also the lemming effect where someone votes with their crowd delaying raising their hand just enough to see what the consensus is).

Finally, the collusion and breakage of a self-reinforcing system like the pirate example shows that a self-reinforcing protocol is situationally dependent. What are the chances that at least one pirate will collude with the captain? (I bet the chance is quite high considering the nature of pirates) As opposed to the property tax example which seems to be a very good use of such a protocol.

Perhaps a little of Zappos' culture is filtering through (though I doubt it). The most important thing that Amazon has not addressed is labeling the kindle versions with clear and concise information as to the DRM that the publisher chose (i.e. number of devices, limitations, "the publisher through us can revoke this copy from you at anytime" blurb, etc..). If they did this then I'd say they have integrity and sales of kindle versions of books would be reflective of the publishers' use of DRM. By not doing this they're trying to play both sides - appeasing the publisher at all cost and then giving a weak apology to the customers with no concrete actions to address the problem (saying "We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission" is just marketing speak for - we'll continue doing what we're doing since we can't point you to concrete steps that we have taken).

I respect your faith in the general populace but I doubt that they'll become more savvy. Easy usage beats savvy computer practice on any day. Look at Facebook usage and the astounding amount of personal information that people reveal (especially the latest most tech savvy generation).

Congrats PG!

And what a suave picture :-)

Couldn't Apple just leverage facebook's 150+ porn patrol employees?

All kidding aside - how could you systematically enforce guidelines on applications when the universe of applications is wide open? In other words, there's no baseline so how could you create test case?

Wouldn't it make more sense to have a group of iphone users (i.e. folks that like to play with anything on the iphone) and have them vote on the app? (apple could reward these users with the app for free or some other random goodies - itouch, ipods, etc...)