Let's Try This Again...

I wrote a post yesterday. It was a glorious post, with lots of interesting links. And it disappeared. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

I don't know why my post disappeared, but that is one of the dangers of digital information. Computers are dumb machines. They usually only do what you tell them to do, and you'd better be careful how and what you tell them to do. Every once in a while, though, there's a glitch, and the computer does something crazy, like make a glorious post disappear.

I could try and recreate everything, but it wouldn't be the same. I don't think I could track down all the links, either, although I'll list the ones I can find. Mostly, I'll just start over today.

Rather than rant again about the FCC's attempts to kill net neutrality, I'll link to the EFF's post about better alternatives: The FCC and Net Neutrality: A Way Forward. And don't forget to share your own thoughts with the FCC!

Links!

• Libraries, Books, & Authors:
• 10 Essential Neil Gaiman Works, Ranked I might not agree with the rankings, but the works themselves? Awesome.
• Jun 30, 1936: Gone with the Wind is published You probably all remember the movie, but the book was so much better. Don't bother with the sequel, though. It really doesn't live up to the first book's glory. 
• Pages Ain’t Nothing But a Number (or, Let’s All Stop Judging People by How Much They Read) 
• Hypocritical Authors Guild Photocopies Author's Book While Claiming That Scanning Works Is Infringement I laughed so hard I think I broke my funny bone. 
• Goodwill Librarian and Family Face Homelessness!!! Help if you can. 
• Novelist Ahdaf Soueif condemns 'war on young' as Egypt activists stand trial 
• Why More Diversity in Children's Literature Is Absolutely Necessary 
• Net & Tech:
• It's not naive to be mad at Facebook Related: Facebook Doesn't Understand The Fuss About Its Emotion Manipulation Study and Facebook emotion study breached ethical guidelines, researchers say. 
• Copyright Troll Malibu Media Allowed To Get Six Strikes Info From Comcast 
• German government to drop Verizon because of U.S. spying 
• Science:
• "The City of Eugene, Oregon became the first community in the nation to specifically ban from city property the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which have scientifically linked to the decline of honey bee colonies." Awesome! Related: Tell Congress to Suspend Bee-Toxic Pesticides and Home Depot and Lowe’s: Stop Selling Bee-Killing Garden Plants! I find it disturbing that businesses will sell "bee friendly" plants that are treated with pesticides. I guess we should all be careful when we're buying plants to make sure we're not accidentally buying death traps for bees. 
• Why Monstrously Large Insects And Spiders Don't Exist Also because Ungoliant devoured herself, Shelob wandered off to (presumably) die, and each successive generation of giant spiders was smaller than the next, so they bred themselves out.  
• Other:
• Happy birthday, Yosemite!
• This might be the most depressing thing I've ever read: How politics makes us stupid 
• Expecting Better: A State-by-State Analysis of Laws That Help New Parents 
• Religious post: Why conservative evangelicals shouldn't call a business ‘Christian’ 
• GOP leader: Supreme Court has ruled 13 times that Obama exceeded his constitutional authority He was a little bit....okay, a lot bit....wrong. 
• Before Shooting in Iraq, a Warning on Blackwater That's frightening...
• Homeowner assesses damage after 14-inch artillery shell enters house There is no way you can convince me that such firepower is necessary for home protection, for personal safety, or for hunting. No one should own such a thing privately. Seriously.