F.B.I. Seizes Web Servers, Knocking Sites Offline – NYTimes.com Seriously, at some point, someone needs to start running training seminars for law enforcement agencies, explain what technology actually *is*. I have no doubt that they employ many people who know, but it's be useful if the people doing the physical work weren't half bright morons hopped on fake authority. Because while knocking a few sites off the intertubes isn't the end of the world, it still is neither right nor fair that innocent third parties like pinboard.in, or Instapaper should be knocked off the internet, and their paying customers deprived of their service (and therefore their money) by government incompetence just because they happen to be in the same room as a computer someone might have used once to do something wrong. This sort of thing makes me disproportionately angry, not for what it is, but for the principle it represents: that the government can screw people for no reason, any time it likes, and receive no comebacks, not even be required to make an apology. Power and stupidity and no accountability. How do we stop this, exactly?
Adramelech Books Here is where you can order C.J. Lines new short short collection, Cold Mirrors. You should do this, pretty much right now. I routinely describe his previous novel as one of the most gleefully horrible things I've ever read, and if you like horror, and haven't read it, you've missed a treat. This short story collection promises to be superb, so seriously, make with the clicky and the shopping.
WordPress › Passwords Reset The WordPress main repository got hack the other day, and several popular plugins were modified to carry malicious code. Long strong short: if you are running a WordPress blog, and have updated your plugins in the last few days, then you should probably check to see if there are new updates available. Most plugins are unaffected, but a few of those that are are very common. The new updates will fix the problem.