Disqus - Latest Comments for trentlarson

Re: US hostmonster

trentlarson — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 21:07:27 -0000

I just noticed that my domains were down; I contacted them via chat and they restored them... so there may still be one-off problems for some servers, requiring you to contact them.

Re: Texas Police Violently Arrest Men for Jaywalking

trentlarson — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 17:47:30 -0000

... and a little ditty about the origins of "jaywalking" persecution. (Thanks, corporations & lawmakers!) http://usa.streetsblog.org/...

Re: NextBillion.net | Breaking Down Development Myths

trentlarson — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:23:12 -0000

These are good stats; the report is well worth reading.

Unfortunately, I don't appreciate the arguments justifying the government aid in myth #2. In the report, Bill argues that $30 per person is acceptable; well, it's nice for him to justify that cost for my 7-member family, but there are many other important initiatives that I'd like to support, both near and far; forcibly taking that money from my pocket and then giving it to someone else's government to spend is very attractive to politicians and other well-connected people, but not to me. His other arguments aren't convincing, either. Just because our governments overreach into so many other areas doesn't justify the overreach into this area as well.

He says at the end of that section that "governments will also have to set the right policies." I suppose that's the crux of it; if he can solve that problem then all the rest will be a cakewalk! I love the results-oriented focus of their foundation and I will continue to support other private initiatives like theirs, but I'll always resent someone else deciding how to spend my livelihood.

Re: Scripting News: Enough with the apps already

trentlarson — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:19:00 -0000

OK. But many of us want to own our own data, to the extent that we want to keep some of it and manage it ourselves. I believe we'll make our apps (ie. programs we run under our 100% control) such that they will play with the web (ie. programs someone else runs under our 0-99% control) in ways in which we're comfortable. I have no idea what that'll look like because I have no idea how to use current technologies to create my own local links that work as well as world-wide web links, but I think it's an interesting and important outstanding question.

This isn't to downplay the importance of linking in and out of our worlds, as you say; I just found it a bit sensational when I read "apps are not the future." OK, but they'll always be a part.

Re: On Strict Constitutionalism

trentlarson — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:37:41 -0000

OK, I get your argument against focusing on the rules. And, with the current state of Utah politics, I agree at the local level. Good point.

Now, would you say that a focus on constitutionality at the federal level in today's world is "playground politics"?

Personally, I think the biggest issue we face at a national level is out-of-control government, both where someone flat-out assumes power (eg. presidents that take us into war) as well as where someone "delegates" their power (eg. allowing bureaucracies to set rules with the force of law without congressional legislation). I honestly fear the expansion of power nationally because the abuses seem so egregious in today's day and age; I feel THE greatest political improvement at that level can be attained by cutting back to proper governmental roles. So, to repeat another way, are you "tired" of the a focus on limits of power at the federal level in today's climate?

Re: Pseudonyms for All

trentlarson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:51:52 -0000

Great idea. It touches on so many issues with all of identity management, and it may be a very good approach to set up these pseudonymous "pointers" to/from each service, and then I can manage and prioritize and even expire certain identities I've used more readily. I would guess that most people would end up with one or two main identities spanning multiple services, because the networking systems used by my peers will make correlations of my services and even aggregate them for my friends' convenience. Anyway, definitely an interesting idea if we could make it seamless. My only fear is that the basic concept isn't easy for today's average user; for example, we can do this for email with some services (eg. Google's "+suffix" on email addresses), but I don't believe many people understand it's use. Maybe the next generation will use it more.

BTW, I'm glad you mention the "larger identity", because I would love to manage my multiple roles (at my day job, in a volunteer org, in a family business). I want to be able to choose my specific sphere of identity to share when at a conference or talking with a new business prospect or whatever.

I wish I had an idea for the next step. My bank now uses a physical device with random numbers every second and I was glad to see there's an open standard for that, but those devices can be stolen. I'm guessing we'll have to build the KeePass/1Password authentication into whatever hardware we're using, eventually unlocked by fingerprint/vocal/ocular scanning devices on our phones.

Re: My Hiatus From RSS – Is RSS Really Necessary?

trentlarson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:26:41 -0000

OK, it's been a month. Are you still doing this? If FriendFeed is powerful enough for you, I'll try something like this as well.
I'm interested in what you've learned.

Re: You Should Be Listening to Money:Tech

trentlarson — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:13:17 -0000

Just today found Finovate, a conference relevant to this topic:
http://www.finovate.com/sta...

Re: Kynetx Operational Procedures

trentlarson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:43:01 -0000

Coincidentally, the Pop!Tech blog just wrote about this issue, both for corporations and governments:

http://www.poptech.org/blog...

Re: More on Detroit (Scripting News)

trentlarson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:47:06 -0000

Your arguments about Iraq & Katrina are good for Bush, and others on both sides that are spur-of-the-moment reactionaries. Please realize that they fall flat with many of us because we hated those actions, too. Many of us were sad when we entered Iraq; we privately contribute for other crises (like Katrina & 9/11) but oppose federal salvation; and we're not afraid to do the hard work that it will take if this becomes a full-fledged disaster.

I can imagine your disasters and I'm not afraid. I do not trust that anyone in the federal government or in the auto-maker leadership knows how to protect us from them anyway; there remains significant suffering even if we do more bailouts. I trust that 300 million hard-working people will recover more quickly than you think; even if it takes many years, we'll be a stronger society for it.

You ask "how can we not". But really, how can we artificially prop up an ailing economy just to keep up an obviously unsustainable way of life for just a little bit longer? There are many worse things in this world than physical suffering. I've personally struggled under the heavy hand of national political intervention (when it comes to charity, no less!), and I am really not happy to endure any more, even if it does mean temporary security.

Re: Is the panic over Detroit real? (Scripting News)

trentlarson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:41:20 -0000

Thanks! It's good to hear real success stories.

Re: Is the panic over Detroit real? (Scripting News)

trentlarson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:31:57 -0000

I oppose this bailout, just as I opposed the big one.

For the record, I am attempting to get credit for a venture. I also work in IT supporting a non-essential industry, so I realize I'm vulnerable to even more recession. I feel like I realize the consequences of not supporting this move, and I personally would lose a great deal even in the best scenario with widespread failure.

However, I feel even the imminent massive problems are outweighed, not only by all the idealistic objections, but also the practical objections: rewarding their irresponsibility, simply postponing the inevitable job losses, increasing our debt, favoring an environment for large companies instead of small, and increasing political-corporate disaster-capitalism. (Think of the children! JK... I know you are :- ) I realize it may make me lose my livelihood, it may take years longer to recover, it may cause widespread hunger in my city (for which I'm not adequately prepared), and it may even result in violence such as food riots. If this helps us collectively get back to the basics of building integrity and trust the hard way, I'm all for it, and I'll spend the rest of my years in the difficult labor of rebuilding. But if this goes through, we're just postponing the inevitable, and I predict much more of this same thing in our future until we end up in an even worse collapse.

Seeing much of the discussion online, I fear my cause may already be lost, and my hope for a nation based on personal liberties is an antiquated ideal. (I actually sympathize with your sentiment about uninformed people weighing in on an issue when they don't realize how the consequences affect them... and if their support is what it takes for my side to win, it's a hollow victory.) But I truly feel it's the only long-term sustainable approach, even if it's disastrous for now.

Re: Utah May Reject REAL ID

trentlarson — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:42:40 -0000

Thanks for the update.
Huzzah 2!