“Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the Founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment. Indeed, I have little doubt that the author of our Constitution, James Madison, who cautioned us to be aware ‘the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power,’ would be aghast.”

Yes!

“We don’t want the girls because the girls won’t buy toys.”

Infuriating is right.

“There is no other way that we know of to connect the dots.”

Time to fire Alexander and find someone who can “connect the dots” without mass surveillance of the entire American populace.

“Like Bitcoin, marriage holds the promise of both massive success and devastating failure. No one knows how things will wind up five, ten, fifteen, or fifty years from now.”

Ha, awesome.

A good review, with lots of great pictures. I test rode the LTC when shopping for my new bike and, while I didn’t end up with the Tallboy, I agree with the review. In fact, other than the frame, my Yeti is very similarly spec’d. A drool-worthy bike, to be sure.

“Learn about spelling and grammar. Writing is now so essential to our lives online, and sometimes it’s the only thing people see of us.”

Oh, please no. It’s great that we can finally use iPads and such throughout the flight, but the thought of people yapping into their phones for a whole flight makes my skin crawl. Terrible, terrible idea.

If you want to kill someone, your job might be a lot easier if that person is a cyclist.

The problem, according to Ray Thomas, a Portland, Ore., attorney who specializes in bike law, is that “jurors identify with drivers.” Convictions carry life-destroying penalties, up to six years in prison, Mr. Thomas pointed out, and jurors “just think, well, I could make the same mistake.

When I was learning to drive, my Drivers” Ed teacher said that it’s basically always the driver’s fault if he hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk. We should make the same basic premise true about bike lanes: kill a cyclist who is legally proceeding in a bike lane, and you’re going to get prosecuted.

Opinion | Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists? (Published 2013)

Based on how drivers who run over and kill cyclists are punished, you’d have to say yes.

www.nytimes.com

Nice feature!

Track down those noisy tabs

Have you ever shuffled through your tabs to figure out where that sound or music is coming from? We hear you! With today’s latest Chrome Bet…

chrome.blogspot.com

an updated Netflix app that should be less painful to use

I’m glad for the update, because the TiVo’s Netflix app does suck, but how bad must it feel to people who work on it to read it described like that on a big news site? TiVo needs to get off its ass.

Must read.

Freedom of Information

A British newspaper wants to take its aggressive investigations global, but money is running out.

www.newyorker.com

“We are determined to bring Mad Men a similar showcase.”

Ugh. This isn’t giving Mad Men a “showcase”, this is milking it, drawing it out. This isn’t good for fans, and I hope it comes back to bite them.

AMC is splitting the final season of ‘Mad Men’ over two years

The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.

www.theverge.com

Good list.

Trial Trails from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Awesome!