Terrestrial origin (and even terrestrial phylogenetic classification) not guaranteed.
- Consider, on the one hand, normalizing website blocking, versus Cloudflare's refusal to even consider blocking of pirate sites… but willingness to take actions far closer to "free speech" (especially the third sausage). That those managers will reluctantly stop support of speech (that is arguably, but not uniformly or inherently, inciting violence but is unarguably political in nature) while not interdicting unlawful distribution of unauthorized copies of copyrighted material tells you all you need to know about the respective revenue flows. In short, piracy pays… someone. The hypocrisy is a little bit too much to take while pondering emoluments. "Follow the money" indeed.
- Speaking of unearned benefits, consider what it takes to become the First Squeeze. And worse yet, consider what that can do; I was less than enthusiastic about Al Gore due to his then-wife, because I remembered the utter hypocrisy of PMRC (ponder what's missing from that list). "It's an act, lady!" indeed. But at least she wasn't comforted by all the "beautiful white people" in the audience…
- Reminder to check your Equifax data breach status, because you can't make a decision unless you know your status.
I think the settlement is wholly unsatisfactory, inadequate, and inappropriate for a very simple reason: It is a "limited fund" settlement, which is not appropriate. It reduces the exposure of the miscreant to a cost of doing business based on the miscreant having accurately reported matters to the other side… when carelessness with its own data by the miscreant is the cause of the problem in the first place. The other fundamental problem with this settlement is that it does not deal with the core "bad data" issues that actually harm consumers; along with any such settlement should come a requirement that during the period a consumer is challenging the accuracy of an item, that item not be reported — especially if the challenge is based on identity theft.
I also recommend that as many people as are eligible take the money, not the "free" credit monitoring… because the credit monitoring costs the vendors somewhere under $1 per customer per year, but the "award" implies a retail price of $12.50 per year. The credit-reporting industry is built on memes and data analyses that openly wear their legacy of discrimination, so cutting into its profit margins appeals to me.
- And then there's the mythology of "access" and the corresponding abuses (beginning with conflicts of interest and going downhill from there — rapidly).
- Last, and far from least: The US Women's National Team just got some evidence that it deserves equal pay with the men. There are fourteen US women nominated for world Best XI. There are zero US men on the lists (and less than five this century). So which group is being underpaid on merit?