EFF’s Computer Owner’s Bill of Rights

  1. Installation of arbitrary applications on the device.
    If the user wishes to, they should not be limited to what is included in one particular proprietary “app store.”
  2. Access to the phone OS at the root/superuser/hypervisor/administrator level.
    If consumers wish to examine the low-level code that is running in their pockets, to check for invasions of privacy, run the anti-virus software of their choice, join VPNs, install firewalls, or just tinker with their operating systems, phone and device companies have no legitimate basis for preventing this.
  3. The option to install a different OS altogether.
    If people want to install Linux on their iPhones, Boot to Gecko on their Windows phones, or just run a different version of Android on their Android phones, the company that sold them the hardware must not prevent them. Using a cryptographic bootloader to defend against malware is a fine idea, but there must be a way to reconfigure this security mechanism to (1) allow an alternative OS to be installed; and (2) to offer the same cryptographic protections for the alternative OS.
  4. Hardware warranties that are clearly independent of software warranties.
    Apple denies warranty coverage to users who have jailbroken their iPhones. While nobody is asking Apple to support jailbroken or modified software, it is inexcusable that the company threatens not to cover, say, a faulty screen, if the customer has chosen to modify the software on their device.

Inbox 7

I just returned from 4 days in Minnesota’s northwoods. Completely disconnected. The only things I took with me; water bottle, a couple days change of clothes, my notecards, and my wallet.

I hiked waterfalls, scrambled across rocky beaches, and fell asleep to flickering fires.

I pondered living in a lighthouse. Hiking a hundred vertical feet each day for fresh water – with no reliable access to the outside world. Yet, tasked with the responsibility of maintaining safe travels for dozens of ships a day. And the commerce implied therein.

Upon my return to civilization – I burned though the hundreds of messages laying stagnant in my inbox.

Only 7 remain.

Each with a clear action item associated with it.

Hemel & Aarde von Brouwerji De Molen

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Tonight, I stopped by The Four Firkins to meet Nick Anderson from Rush River. I quite enjoyed hearing the story of Rush River – and the challenges they’re having keeping up with the demand for their beer (there’s a reason their Unforgiven and ÜberAlt are #1 & #2 on my all-time beers list). On the way out, I picked up sixer of ÜberAlt and asked Alvey to recommend something peaty like Sam Adams’ Wee Heavy.

Without hesitation, he hands me a bottle of Hemel & Aarde von Brouwerji De Molen.

‘We just got this in’, he adds.

Exactly what I was looking for: peaty, roasty, dark as midnight, with a nose like campfire.

“Made with the most heavily peated malt in the world from the Bruichladdich distillery. Almost pitch black and opaque, small head. Furiously peated aroma, hiding the malt, licorice and dark chocolate somewhat. Very full bodied, thick mouthfeel, like fluid bread. Dark chocolate, loads of peat, lapsang souchong tea, chocolate cake, culminating in an almost endless aftertaste that also has licorice.”

Whereas the Wee Heavy is like zipping into a sleeping bag next to a campfire on a chilly night, the Hemel and Aarde is telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows, and celebrating the sunset.

Besides, it’s hard not to love a beer with a label proudly exclaiming: ‘enjoy within 25 years’.