Eric Olson @EricOlson@qoto.org
Father of twins, aspiring woodturner, mental illness haver, and easily distracted by the next shiny thing to learn
Joined Nov 2022
Eric Olson
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Eric Olson
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A lot of today’s UX designers never made a WinAmp skin and it shows.
Eric Olson
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Eric Olson
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There's a local mural artist whose work always features Mayan styling and their work is always great, but this one caught my eye this morning and I think it's particularly rad.
It's Friday, I have the day off, the weather is gorgeous in #Minnesota, and I need some fresh ideas on what to do.
Eric Olson
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Fifteen years ago, a couple of MIT students planned to give a talk at Defcon about a vulnerability in the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's (MBTA) subway fare system. It was entitled Free Subway Rides For Life. The MBTA sued the students, and got a restraining order, canceling the talk and preventing the students from communicating truthful information to the public. I represented them (along with other EFF attorneys).
Fast forward to now. Two high school students have replicated the vuln, extended the research and gave a talk at Defcon this year. No, MTBA didn't bother to fix the problem.... BUUUT they did refrain from suing the researchers this time. And they even invited the students to HQ to give a presentation about their research.
I love this story and these students and am proud to have been a part of this history, and even more pleased that authorities have learned a lesson about appreciating hackers and the important work that you do.
https://www.wired.com/story/mtba-charliecard-hack-defcon-2023/
Eric Olson
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I smash the wine out of Jesus' hand, his party tricks impressing everyone but me. "GIVE US THE SUPERCONDUCTOR," I yell in Aramaic.
Eric Olson
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Looking for #gaming recommendations on the #PC. My faves of late have been #Satisfactory and #OxygenNotIncluded. #DiabloIV has been a nice distraction, but it hasn't grabbed on to me.
It can be AAA or indie, and the distribution can be whatever platform.
What say you, internet?
Can someone remind Canada that this is not what we mean by a purple state? #AQI #AirQualityAlert #mnwx
Eric Olson
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This seems like a really excellent day not to be on Twitter any more.
Eric Olson
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I continue to be mystified by the sentiment that being a First Amendment advocate means *socially* tolerating people I find obnoxious or contemptible. I keep getting “what kind of free speech advocate blocks people?” The kind who doesn’t deal with assholes when not professionally compelled to do so. The First Amendment isn’t a hair shirt.
Eric Olson
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Mom asked, "I wonder when cherries bloom in Japan?" So I found 1200 years of data online and made her a plot.
Happy Wednesday, fediverse!
Anything exciting on your agenda for today?
Eric Olson
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Google Bard sides with the Justice Department in the Google antitrust case
“I hope that the court will find in favor of the Justice Department and order Google to take steps to break up its monopoly”
Is anyone else concerned that Mom is wearing a cooking apron depicting a poke ball on a spoon? #Pokemon
Eric Olson
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1/ It's almost a law of nature that upon election to public office, graduates of elite law school either forget everything they learned, or make a conscious decision to just completely ignore it.
Today's example comes to you from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who introduced the wildly unconstitutional HR 61 that creates a category of "white supremacy inspired hate crime": https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/61/text
Loss and Grief
My family lost our oldest member last week; she passed at age 103. She was one of the last remaining members of my grandfather's generation, but someone I didn't know very well.
However, my 7yo was devastated; this is his first loss and there was a bond forged when he was 3 thru a Christmas gift from her, a gift she was embarrassed about. Yet he was over the moon for those red fox slippers and he's held on to them even though he's well outgrown them.
To help out, my wonderful wife turned one slipper into a cuddle, which has been magical. He got thru school yesterday without crying, just knowing the cuddle was in his backpack.
For me, the grief has been watching him process his own and understand what it means to no longer see someone ever again.
And it's also a reminder that what seems like a small or meaningless gift can have an outsized on people.
Thank you, Great-Aunt Elsie. We'll miss you.
Bones aren't real
Father of twins, aspiring woodturner, mental illness haver, and easily distracted by the next shiny thing to learn
Joined Nov 2022
