Saturday, March 9, 2013
CNET - Seattle Dive Bar Becomes First To Ban Google Glass
Google Glass won't be available to consumers for months, but there's at least one Seattle bar where the eyewear will not be welcome.
The 5 Point, a self-described dive bar in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, posted a notice to its Facebook page this week telling Glass Explorers looking to grab a pint that they will need to remove their $1,500 spectacles. The story was noted today on GeekWire.
"For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses," the post reads. "And ass kickings will be encouraged for violators."
"I'm a thought leader," deadpanned Dave Meinert, the bar's owner, in an interview on Seattle's KIRO-FM. "First you have to understand the culture of the 5 Point, which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place. People want to go there and be not known...and definitely don't want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet."
Full Article at CNET
Disabled Californian Vet Dies In Court Fighting Wrongful Foreclosure By Wells Fargo
On the morning of Dec. 19, 2012, in a Torrance courtroom, Larry Delassus' heart stopped as he watched his attorney argue his negligence and discrimination case against banking behemoth Wells Fargo.
His death came more than two years after Wells Fargo mistakenly mixed up his Hermosa Beach address with that of a neighbor in the same condo complex. The bank's typo led Wells Fargo to demand that Delassus pay $13,361.90 — two years of late property taxes the bank said it had paid on his behalf in order to keep his Wells Fargo mortgage afloat.
But Delassus, a quiet man who suffered from the rare blood-clot disorder Budd-Chiari syndrome and was often hospitalized, didn't owe a penny in taxes.
One of his neighbors, whose condo "parcel number" was two digits different from Delassus', owed the back taxes.
In a series of painfully tragic events, Wells Fargo relied on its typographical error to double Delassus' mortgage — from $1,237.69 to $2,429.13 — as its way of recouping the $13,361.90 in taxes Delassus didn't owe. Delassus, a retiree living on a $1,655 check, couldn't meet the mysteriously increased mortgage. He stopped paying, and soon was far behind on his mortgage.
Delassus and his attorney did not discover until May 2010 that a mis-entered number had dragged Delassus into this spiral. As court documents obtained by L.A. Weekly show, after admitting its error, Wells Fargo foreclosed on Delassus anyway and sold his condo
Full Article at LA Weekly
Friday, March 8, 2013
Richard Stallman Endorsing NYC City Council Who's Proposing Tax Credit For Developing Free Software
Richard Stallman's personal site.
http://stallman.org
For current political commentary, see the daily political notes.
I am pleased to endorse Benjamin Kallos for New York City Council. My main reason is that he has proposed a tax credit for developing free software. That policy can help advance free software.
This isn't a one-off. Kallos has a record of pushing government to enter the Internet age in the right way, the way that respects people's freedom and increases the public's control over government.
There are many other important political issues, and I like most of Kallos's positions. They are designed to help New Yorkers in general. I did find one major issue of disagreement: he gives support to Israel's defense without denouncing the occupation of Palestine. However, since the New York City Council has no authority over US foreign policy, I can overlook that disagreement in this race.
Endorsing a candidate involves comparing that candidate with the others. Kallos's opponents don't impress me, and in particular they show no commitment to freedom in technology.
Copyright (c) 2013 Richard Stallman Verbatim copying and redistribution of this entire page are permitted provided this notice is preserved.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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