@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org
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SteveBellovin

@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org

I'm a computer science professor and affiliate law prof at Columbia University. Author of "Thinking Security". Dinosaur photographer. Not ashamed to say that I’m still masking, because long Covid terrifies me.
https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb

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jvagle, to random
@jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

Even if plaintiffs could show standing in Biden v. Nebraska (which they cannot), their injury claim is based on a falsehood. https://newrepublic.com/article/172337/case-against-student-debt-relief

SteveBellovin,
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@jvagle New rule: if you're a member of the GOP attacking something Democrats like, you have standing.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

I scored ONE POINT!

(I never used Blockbuster. Indeed, I never rented a video. For most of the period when video rentals were a thing, I didn't own a TV, never mind a VCR.)

SteveBellovin,
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@cstross they left out reel-to-reel tapes…

SteveBellovin,
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@cstross I never used lawn darts or filofaxes. I owned a portable record player, I used my parents' 78rpm record changer, and I still have a slide rule lying around…

spaf, to random
@spaf@mstdn.social avatar

I am of an age and musical tastes such that this news saddens me considerably. I loved his music.

Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gordon-lightfoot-dead-obituary-1234716529/

SteveBellovin,
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

@andy_sherman @spaf I haven’t finished playing my Harry Belafonte songs…

jvagle, to random
@jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

RIP, Mr. Lightfoot. https://youtu.be/tV9PoWQVga0

SteveBellovin,
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

@jvagle First song of his I ever heard was "Black Day in July", at which point I was hooked. I heard him live once when in grad school.

spaf, to random
@spaf@mstdn.social avatar

I have now heard from several people that they got COVID at . Apparently, it was a semi-super-spreader event.

People don't seem to mention this as much any more, It is as if getting COVID is expected. That's not a good expectation, especially considering the longer-term damage it can wreak on the neurological and cardio systems.

So far, @drpattie and I are COVID-free. We didn't see very many people with masks -- less than 1% but we wore them.

Best wishes for recovery to those infected.

SteveBellovin,
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@spaf @drpattie See my Mastodon profile for my views on masking…

jvagle, to random
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Don't be lulled into thinking that the attack on academic freedom is somehow naturally limited to FL and TX. https://apnews.com/article/new-college-florida-tenure-conservatives-desantis-ce711c9169ebe84e9d062ebbb281ebce

SteveBellovin,
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@jvagle There are so many non-ideological reasons why tenure protections are important. I don't think I could have done my shift towards law and policy if I were a junior faculty member. Conversely, I can't talk about machine learning or even the history of SIGINT without bringing in structural racism and sexism—they're part of the technical story. I'm glad that my job does not depend on the whims of a state legislator without a broad enough education.

paul, to random
@paul@tapbots.social avatar

I don't blame Jack for Twitter/Musk, but if he had second thoughts he certainly could've said something before it was too late. Also if he turned against the deal, why did he roll over his shares instead of cash out?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/29/elon-musk-twitter-jack-dorsey/

SteveBellovin,
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@paul Cash out? Who’d buy Twitter shares at this point?”

jvagle, to random
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Exactly what the Founders envisioned. https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/road-rage-at-chick-fil-a-ends-with-2-shot-at-nearby-walgreens-applebees/QW5C47HAU5EIBEFGBTE5Q7R2ME/

SteveBellovin,
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@jvagle I’m waiting for some state to legalize duels.

jvagle, to random
@jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

Texas trying to out-Texas Florida.

SteveBellovin,
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@jvagle “We’re not unconstitutionally punishing you for your speech, we’re just not renewing your contract.”

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

Schuylkill Generation Station, Philadelphia.

Sepia toned to protect the sensibilities of the judgmental.

High resolution version at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/42660696454

SteveBellovin,
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

@mattblaze Matt, what was the lighting like that you had to shoot at 1/2 second? Yes, ISO 35 is rather slow but not that slow, and f/11 is somewhat closed but not that closed. And there's remarkably little motion blur in the train for a 1/2 second exposure.

SteveBellovin,
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@mattblaze Ah, thanks.

SteveBellovin,
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@mattblaze But a covered hopper is 60-65' long, and those don't seem to be moving 1/9 of their length.

SteveBellovin,
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@mattblaze Maybe. But look at the offset of the ladders on the hopper cars. It looks to me like the train moved approximately the width of the ladder. From pictures, the width of the ladder is somewhat less that the diameter of the wheels; those are likely 33”-36”. That is closer to your original estimate of the train speed.

SteveBellovin,
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

@mattblaze I'm looking at a side ladder. If you look at the first hopper in front of the tank cars, you can see an end ladder, too—and it slants down from the side ladder due to perspective. In fact, if I look more closely at the ladders further forward, I think I see both ladders—which in turn makes me wonder if I was wrong about that being movement and instead being the side ladders on adjacent cars.

SteveBellovin,
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@illtud @mattblaze Matt and I can geek out anywhere—and when it's about two of our favorite topics, photography and trains, there are few bounds…

SteveBellovin, to random
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Nice—the NY Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/business/disney-desantis-board-florida.html) on Disney's suit against DeSantis links to the actual complaint. And the complaint alleges violations of the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, Due Process, and (to my pleasure) the First Amendment.

SteveBellovin, to random
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For various reasons, I was browsing some very old patents and stumbled on two that will be amusing to lawyers and law-adjacent folks: US 661437A, Typographic numbering-machine, and US676082A, Automatic Numbering Machine. And the inventor: one Edwin Bates.

SteveBellovin,
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@ncweaver @mattblaze I was told, long ago, that it was after someone who invented a numbering machine, but I was not expecting to stumble on his patents by accident!

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

The recently opened Moynihan train hall at NYC's Penn Station.

Depressingly high resolution version at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51205135362

SteveBellovin,
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

@marasawr @mattblaze I may as well contribute one of my older and better B&W images. This is a scanned negative from late 1972 or early 1973 in North Carolina, as part of my dead tree series. I don't think I knew then that there was a bird (probably a yellow-bellied sapsucker) in the middle of the frame! I believe the film was Tri-X (which I used a lot back then), on a Ricohflex SLR with a 105mm Pentax lens. (The negatives to most of my pre-1972 pictures were lost to flooding during Sandy.)

davidzipper, to random
@davidzipper@mastodon.social avatar

Good news: Automakers are finally realizing that car touchscreens are a disaster.

Drivers hate them, and they're also dangerously distracting. Buttons and knobs are poised for a comeback.

My new article in Slate:
https://slate.com/business/2023/04/cars-buttons-touchscreens-vw-porsche-nissan-hyundai.html

#cars #safety #technology

SteveBellovin,
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@davidzipper @ncweaver And Audi has been advertising of late that their cars' touchscreens can do handwriting recognition. I mean, WTF?

aka_pugs, to random
@aka_pugs@mastodon.social avatar

50 years ago today: I become a certified teenage FORTRAN programmer. 🧵 1/

SteveBellovin,
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@aka_pugs Oh, and they lacked named COMMON, explicit type declarations, complex variables, flexible bindings between I/O unit numbers and media, and more. Like I said, subsetted…

SteveBellovin,
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@aka_pugs It could be that the FORTRAN IV-named version came later; I stopped using the 1130 in 1970.

mmasnick, to random
@mmasnick@mastodon.social avatar

Randomly noting: if you're in the US, in April of 2024, the US will have a solar eclipse pass over a bunch of states for the first time in 7 years, and for the last time in decades.

It is an indescribably wonderful experience to be in the zone of totality. This article kinda covers it:. If you're not sure if you've seen one, you haven't. It's the most bizarre thing where it feels like someone flips a light switch and turns off the sky. https://www.space.com/37791-go-see-the-solar-eclipse-in-person.html

SteveBellovin,
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@ncweaver @mattblaze @mmasnick I really lucked out for that one. We were at Mt. Rainier and were planning to drive to Crater Lake on eclipse day. So: we scored an overnight parking space at a fairground in Madras, Oregon, left Mt. Rainier early, slept in our car, and saw the eclipse and took pictures the next morning. It was an amazing experience, though I didn't realize that some prominences were visible until I looked at my photos. We're now approaching a solar maximum; they should be better!

The so-called “diamond ring” picture as totality ends, with a bright burst of sun in the upper right. If you look closely, you can still see the prominences.

usenixassociation, to random

Hello world!

SteveBellovin,
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@usenixassociation @danmcd Welcome! (And followed!)

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