kuro5hin.org || MLP

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org:80/section/mlp

MLPaka "Mindless Link Propagation". Memes are a hoax. Pass it on.

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2010/2/2/232542/0052)**[15 Yards: The Unsportsmanlike Tax Evasion of the NFL](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2010/2/2/232542/0052)**

By BottleRocket in MLP

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 06:38:59 PM EST

Tags: Glenfiddich, sye, culture, LilDebbie under the turf, i am better than you ( all tags)

Superbowl XLIV approaches, pitting two potent offensive teams against one another. The inimitable Peyton Manning, this year's winner of the National Football League's MVP award (his fourth, most of any player all time), will try to use his bottomless well of receivers to outscore the Saints. The deadly accuracy of the Saints under Drew Brees will be tested by the solid defensive front of the Colts, albeit possibly without perennial Pro-bowler Dwight Freeney.

Drama abounds. Both teams are top seeds in their respective conferences. Peyton Manning will be competing against the team his father quarterback'd for 11 seasons. Although the Hall of Fame is a certainty for Peyton, a win would cement his legendary status. A Superbowl win for Mr. Brees might punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame. His team, the New Orleans Saints, plays every home game in the Superdome: a living reminder of a tragedy that took place in their city five short years ago.

Amid all this pageantry, the expectations of a scoring frenzy, a tale of avarice and thievery is shouted down. For who would have guessed that the NFL, a seven-billion-US-dollar-per-year enterprise, could be considered a non-profit?

Full Story (36 comments, 862 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2009/10/16/8287/6896)**[Telephone Relay Services, or More Shit You Don't Know Anything About](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/10/16/8287/6896)**

By The Hanged Man in MLP

Sun Oct 18, 2009 at 10:46:48 AM EST

Tags: TRS, relay, ip relay, deaf, hoh, communications, fcc, telephones, voip, 711 ( all tags)

In 2008, the U.S. telephone relay service (TRS) industry pulled in around 30 million dollars in revenue, 16 million of which was profit. If you've ever had to dial 711, or received a phone call from a 'relay service' then you've used it before. The TRS exists as a mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their mission is to assist the hearing or speech disabled to communicate with their fellow citizens over the phone, typically by using a TTY* device. The industry is governed by the Federal Communications Commission, and is funded through NECA, the National Exchange Carrier Association, who get their money from you, in the form of taxes on your phone bill.

Ultimately, every penny that the TRS industry makes is from taxes, which makes the fact that the TRS system is completely broken all the more appalling. From ignoring the needs of the deaf customers it was designed to help, to aiding and abetting scammers all over the world.

Want to learn more? Check out Stop Relay Abuse. Or, make a call for free anywhere in the US (requires flash, doesn't play nice in firefox). You don't even have to prove you're disabled, and it's completely anonymous for now. Did I mention federal law makes it illegal to talk about the content of any call, even if it's criminal activity? The only exception is the nebulous term 'national security', otherwise it takes a subpoena just to learn the IP address your call was placed from. Isn't it grand?

Full Story (21 comments, 338 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2009/10/9/52750/9607)**[Yosef K. is the internet's best programming blogger](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/10/9/52750/9607)**

By Delirium in MLP

Sat Oct 10, 2009 at 05:52:27 PM EST

Tags: programming, blog ( all tags)

I'm usually on the lookout for interesting writing on programming, which cuts through the piles of "best practices", cargo-cult nonsense, and inane technical details, to something interesting to read that's also relevant to actually programming. I can say unhesitatingly that Yosef K.'s blog is the best on the internet meeting that description. Sure, he comes from a particular perspective--embedded systems programming--but is interested in and knowledgeable about broader areas, and generally manages to get to the heart of interesting issues and tradeoffs. And the works-at-a-real-company-doing-actual-embedded-systems-programming angle gives him some grounding in actual programming that you might not find in some academic takes (I say this as someone in academia).

Full Story (44 comments, 272 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2009/6/23/131746/520)**[Eric & Emad: Iranian Hackers & Cyber-Buddies](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/6/23/131746/520)**

By Trollaxor in MLP

Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 03:10:46 AM EST

Tags: Eric S. Raymond, ESR, hacker, hackers, hacking, Iran, Trollaxor ( all tags)

The latest Trollaxor piece, " Eric & Emad: Iranian Hackers & Cyber-Buddies," is a direct response in humorous parable to Eric S. Raymond's blog entry, " Dispatches from the Iranian cyberfront," where Raymond boasts that his life of late has been like "living inside a cyberpunk novel."

Full Story (39 comments, 775 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2009/4/30/19540/4343)**[Joe Biden's tangled web of hedge funds](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/4/30/19540/4343)**

By lostincali in MLP

Sun May 03, 2009 at 09:39:42 AM EST

Tags: Joe Biden, hedge funds, political influence ( all tags)

FT Alphaville, a blog run by the Financial Times, is running a three part series on the dealings surrounding a hedge fund management company purchased by the Biden family in 2006. The upshot: no allegations directly linking Biden to corruption, but good dose of lobbying sleaze, nepotism, an opportunistic asbestos/mesothelioma law firm, indirect links to fraudulent financial entities and more conflicts of interest than you can shake a stick at.

Full Story (19 comments, 426 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2009/2/21/1428/04989)**[Clinton to China: Human Rights Not Really That Important](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/2/21/1428/04989)**

By N0574 in MLP

Sun Feb 22, 2009 at 09:49:09 PM EST

Tags: PRC, China, Clinton, Charter 08, authoritarianism, freedom, human rights ( all tags)

According to Secretary of State Clinton the global economy, the climate, and the war on terror are all more important than human rights in China. That's right--money first, environmental stuff second, terrorism third, and human rights 4th (at best):

"Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises," she said (again) while holding talks with Chinese officials yesterday.

As David Elmer points out in his Telegraph article, her repeated and cavalier disregard for China's human rights record has gotten quite a few Charter 08 activists arrested in Beijing already.*

\* Charter 08

Full Story (51 comments, 405 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2008/11/18/93514/227)**[Why the Big 3 Bailout is Bullshit: Cadillacs Made in China](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2008/11/18/93514/227)**

By nostalgiphile in MLP

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 05:02:40 AM EST

Tags: bankruptcy, automobiles, Japan, made in China, Detroit, YFI ( all tags)

First, they say that between 160,000 and 3 million manufacturing jobs are on the line, but then turn around and blame the unions (the organization that represents those workers). In fact, foreign (mainly Japanese) automakers employ almost as many Americans as the "Big 3" do (113,000). Helping GM, Ford, and Chrysler could actually hurt those American auto-workers at non-Big 3 factories. Moreover, even according to optimistic estimates, the crappy clunkers Detroit has been making for years will be far less feasible in the coming worldwide depression than the smaller, cheaper more sensible Japanese brand cars which are (by % of parts/labor) MORE AMERICAN than the "American" cars. (GM parts are often made in China, whereas cars like the Honda Accord are 70% American-made).

Full Story (60 comments, 452 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2008/9/22/144256/641)**[The 700 Billion Dollar Question](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2008/9/22/144256/641)**

By loteck in MLP

Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 07:30:43 AM EST

Tags: ( all tags)

Those who spend their weekends doing things other than watching the news woke up Monday morning to a proposed 700 billion dollar bailout of the broader US financial system. The response to the most devastating financial crisis in modern history is surely a complex web of legal and technical intricacy, tied together with thick ropes of incomprehensible financial jargon and heavy-laden with the legislative double-speak inherent to all bills, right?

Nope. It's only 2 pages long, and written in near-layman's terms. You would read it, if you were paying attention.

If you had read it, here's a section that might have struck you:

"Section 8: Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Full Story (132 comments, 417 words in story)

[ [P] ](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/print/2008/9/10/235625/888)**[''ASCII art'' in the 1950s](https://web.archive.org/web/20100214060035/http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2008/9/10/235625/888)**

By rpresser in MLP

Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 12:01:50 PM EST

Tags: ( all tags)

According to History of ASCII Art, a Korean gentleman named Gwang Hyuk Lee (or Gwank Hyuk Lee?), around the time of the Korean war, drew a picture of Jesus Christ (entirely by hand) using the entire text of the Book of John. He used varying pen colors to form the image.

If this is true, I am extremely impressed.

Full Story (17 comments, 175 words in story)

Tuesday, May 6th

Who Owns Your Home? (115 comments)