I wrote a blog post about how the government and police are blurring the line between law and public health guidance, and how that's quite bad for the rule of law.
https://tommorris.org/posts/2020/thats-not-what-the-law-says/
I wrote a thing about how smart contracts people aren’t smart and don’t know much about law or rules-based-thinking, or the kind of human reasoning you can’t express in code, and why they need to go read H.L.A. Hart.
https://tommorris.org/posts/2020/hart-contracts-not-smart-contracts/
I wrote a little blog post pointing to essential reading on the
MIT MediaLab following recent scandals. It is a fascinating, and rather terrifying, vision of techno-utopianism, and an academic venture almost wholly undermined by its corporate partnerships.
https://tommorris.org/posts/essential-reading-on-the-mit-media-lab/
New blog post about how Apple ID's two-factor and app-specific passwords are irritating, confusing and need some #securityUX love.
I wrote a thing about Facebook’s Instant Articles and why they are Bad, and why visible URLs are required for trust and provenance.
I wrote a thing about museums and engagement metrics. It is as positive and optimistic as you've come to expect from me.
I very reluctantly relaunched my personal site. Not because I particularly want to, but because I didn't want it to be totally dead.
I can't promise to write lots, because I'm a bit busy reading.
I'm Tom. I live in London. I'm a recovering software developer. I'm an admin on Wikipedia (and I write a few bits on there about philosophy and law and weird TV programmes).
I used to be a pretty avid supporter of stuff like IndieWeb, but I'm now rather cynical about the internet and social media and generally think we ought to turn it off for everyone's mental health.
#whatareyoudoing (reviving the old question from Twitter)
I'm reading about the Glorious Revolution and the 1688 Parliament.
Mastodon: you should randomly pick some person's server to hang out on and trust with your data.
No, of course they aren't registered data controllers.
The law is still a thing (especially in Europe), and companies like Twitter are at least somewhat more accountable to the justice system for misuse in a way that the pseudonymous server admin of your favourite queer polyamorous furry art sharing instance can't. Just saying.
Federation: still bad.
How to use Android without Google.
https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/a-guide-to-using-android-without-selling-your-soul-to-g-1827875582
It is basically a giant faff and probably not worth bothering with given the amount of hassle vs. the cost of buying an iOS device.
Answer from a philosophy student: There is no difference, and I’ve yet to see a good reason to not treat them as synonymous.