Apparently there’s a big fuss going on right now about Blizzard installing so-called spyware on the computers of WoW players. Frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is. Let me explain why.

First off, this ‘Warden’ program isn’t sending any personal information to Blizzard. EFF counters this by saying ‘that gamers have no choice but to accept Blizzard’s word on that’. Well, yes, I suppose you have. That’s what EULA agreements are for, those things go both ways. If they’re lying, you can sue them. But, well, as far as you can tell they’re not lying, are they?

What the Warden program does is collect names of active applications and processes and compare them to a list of banned 3rd party cheating tools. Nothing more. Apparently this constitutes a gross breach of privacy. Right. Why not ban virus scanners and anti-spyware tools too, while you’re at it? They do the exact same thing.

To further put these accusations into the realm of overhyped ridiculousness is the fact that if Blizzard wanted to exploit your personal information, they certainly wouldn’t need the Warden for that. They already have your credit card number and your email address, two things you need to submit before you can even play the game.

Blizzard isn’t going to read your emails and report you to the FBI. They just want to ban cheaters so that you can get some satisfaction out of having earned that epic drop the right way. I’m all for a little skepticism towards Big Business, but really, EFF, you gotta learn to pick your targets better.

Recommended reading for all those Americans who feel the need to bad-mouth France every chance they get.

Recommended reading fodder: The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. I need to get Jennifer, a friend of ours, to read this and other similar fiction. She and I have had several intense (but always civil) discussions about the existence of a deity (simply put she believes in a God and I don’t), and this type of tale partially reflects my perspective on the matter. However, I’m afraid the author’s approach to sex will distract Jennifer’s attention away from the actual point being made.

I should also have her read God’s Debris. It’s a very enticing theory Scott Adams poses there.

I just discovered that Ilium and Olympos, the two recent SF-epics by the hand of Dan Simmons, are actually preceded by a story he wrote in 2000 called The Ninth of Av. Having read both Ilium and Olympos recently, I found reading this story, specifically its introduction in Worlds Enough & Time, a most enlightening affair.

Speaking of cyberpunk, one of WG’s earliest stories features a dolphin trained for military purposes. I guess Gibson has fans in the Pentagon.

I’ve started reading Consider Phlebas, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s been a while since I’ve read a good old-fashioned Space Opera, with battleships, laser guns, robots and weird alien species. Jolly good fun, I tell ya.

This is some cool stuff for cyberpunk fans (like myself), made for the PSP but it’s just as viewable on the web: NYC2123.

It appears the media has wildly exaggerated stories about violence in New Orleans. Why am I not surprised? In their quest for ratings (so they can charge more for commercials) the big media conglomerates are always looking for the sensationalist angle. And it didn’t hurt that the ‘bad guys’ here were all African Americans. It’s not just G.W. Bush that don’t like black people.

I’ve long since learned to regard everything the media serves us with skepticism. Here in the Netherlands we’ve had our own media scandals and conspiracy theories, and here too the content creators are sufficiently conglomerated to warrant suspicion. The saving grace of Dutch journalism may be the non-profit public channels, but now the Dutch government is severely slashing their budgets, leaving the responsibility of informing the people in the hands of commercial television.

And we all know how well that worked out in the US, don’t we?

Soon all I’ll be watching is BBC News.

New Google toy: Web Accelerator.

How long until our entire web experience is managed by Google? They index the web, they index your emails and documents, and now they’ll be indexing your surfing behaviour.

That is, if you let them.

Linkdumping for your entertainment and education:

Even the UK is turning into a police state:
-> Suspicious Behaviour on the Tube (Guardian)

Doping bans are hypocritical:
-> Nix the Ban on Sport Drugs (Wired)

WoW is hit by a viral disease:
-> A Plague on Warcraft (Guardian)

Firefox may not be so safe:
-> Mozilla Browsers more vulnerable than IE (ZDNet)

Firefox may be safe afterall:
-> Mozilla Hits Back at Browser Security Claim (ZDNet)

How to blog and stay anonymous:
-> Tips for the Crusading Blogger (Wired)

Many people don’t understand why I firmly believe Lance Armstrong used doping. They refer to the countless doping tests the man has undergone during his supreme reign in the Tour de France, all of which came up negative.

But those people don’t understand what a doping test is. A doping test is simply a series of chemical tests to confirm the presence of known illegal substances. I repeat, known illegal substances. A doping test does not reveal if the athlete in question is using anything that’s not currently marked as illegal. It simply doesn’t test for anything else than what the authorities deem necessary to test for.

It seems few remember the EPO scandal of several years ago. In the late 1990’s EPO was added to the list of illegal doping substances, and suddenly dozens of cyclists were found guilty of using this drug. Investigation turned out that EPO had been used in cycling and many other sports for years before it became included in doping tests.

I’m quite sure Lance Armstrong has access to performance-enhancing drugs that are currently not marked as illegal, and as such are not tested for. In due time these drugs will be officially recognized as doping, and I’m sure more than a few cyclists will have to publicly admit their cheating ways.

Armstrong won’t be among them, of course. He’s already retired. Smart man.