J.M. Porup's Blog

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Politics is a battle between sense and nonsense. The majority of any given population inevitably endorses nonsense–because it feels good? Because in large groups human beings lose a hundred IQ points? Because of a herd mentality? Who knows–and the end result is the crushing defeat of sanity by insanity.

The human race, armed with increasingly powerful weapons, and afflicted by this herd mentality, looks set to commit species suicide.

Let’s talk some more about nonsense. What do I mean by that?

F...

Politics is a battle between sense and nonsense. The majority of any given population inevitably endorses nonsense–because it feels good? Because in large groups human beings lose a hundred IQ points? Because of a herd mentality? Who knows–and the end result is the crushing defeat of sanity by insanity.

The human race, armed with increasingly powerful weapons, and afflicted by this herd mentality, looks set to commit species suicide.

Let’s talk some more about nonsense. What do I mean by that?

F...

A review of Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: the Many Faces of Anonymous

by Gabriella Coleman

Without further innovation, the human race is doomed. Two centuries of exponentially-increasing technological development put the future of our species in doubt. But we cannot willingly go back and forget the innovations we already possess, which means the only solution is to continue innovating, to continue experimenting, in the hopes that new ideas will emerge–some Band-Aid for the gaping wound th...

In a recent blog post over on the CDT blog, Jake Laperruque discusses police body cameras, and how they could be used to prevent civil liberties abuses by the police.

His focus seems to be: What policy / law / rule set should govern the use of police body cameras?

This is, IMHO, the wrong question to ask. When law and technology collide, law always loses. Even a brief glance at history shows that might makes right, and law picks up the pieces afterward.

Or to be more precise: Technology redistri...

I write hard-boiled. I edit hard-boiled. I see a lot of novels cross my desk that open with something like:

I was swigging my eighteenth shot of Jack Daniels and eying the gun in my desk drawer when someone knocked at the door. “Some Drunken Bum, Private Dick,” what it says on the plaque.

“Come in,” I called out. “Or don’t. Like I really fucking care.”

The titties came in first, then the rest of her. She was trouble, I could smell it on her like a bad perfume.

“Siddown, skunkie,” I said. “He’s ch...

NaNoWriMo is not just for wannabe novelists. Writing–and publishing–a 50,000-word novel in less than a month is a challenge every professional novelist ought to undertake at least once a year.

Note the use of the word “professional.” A pro is not someone who is better than the amateur. The pro is someone who does it for the money.

You can still write a novel every year or two in your spare time, if that turns you on. There’s nothing wrong with having a fun hobby.

But if you want to make a living...

The Internet has limits. Technologists know this. Journalists, public policy and legal people often do not. The Internet is constrained by the laws of mathematics, of physics, and of human nature. Ignorance of these laws can and will cause us grief if we’re not careful.

This blog post is meant as a primer for those working in public policy, and is specifically meant to counter wishful thinking such as:

“Wouldn’t it be great if we had a secret encryption backdoor — a magic golden key — so that l...

For the past five hundred odd years, the printing press has the been the most efficient means of mass communication ever devised. The American Revolution was made possible by two technologies: the press, and the personal firearm. It is no surprise that these two technologies are enshrined in the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

But the printing press is obsolete, replaced by the Internet. Yet we continue to talk about “freedom of the press.”

When the automobile was invented...

[Note: The following are my prepared remarks for the LatAm Startups Conference 2014. Video of the presentation can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PKPstkcYfA]

We Steal Innovation

On September 5, 2014, a few weeks ago, The Intercept published a classified document provided by Edward Snowden. The document was the NSA’s 2009 Quadrennial Intelligence Community Review. This document anticipated potential threats to American power over the

next 10-15 years.

I quote, “One of the principa...