We have just had another Internet casualty. Replacementdocs.com was a website that hosted scans of video game manuals for anyone to download. It was most active in the 2000s. I just checked to see the state of the website after months of broken downloads, and—yep—it's gone forever.

Don't fret, you can find every video game manual that was on the website at the point of closure here: https://archive.org/details/p31-replacementdocs.

#dataHoarding #dataPreservation #gaming #InternetArchive #PDF #scans

It all boils down to two choices: either fully invade, destroy, and capture the Islamic Republic and secure US objectives, or withdraw and make a serious, genuine effort to de-escalate and resume negotiations. There's no being in between. Worse, there's no easy way out, which is evidence that the US probably should not have been involved in the war in the first place.

https://reason.com/2026/03/26/trump-cant-taco-his-way-out-of-iran/

#DonaldTrump #foreignPolicy #interventionism #Iran #IranWar #noninterventionism #TrumpAdministration

I get 50 years of copyright. It reasonably balances the needs of the holders with the public's desires for freedom. 70 years is the upper limit, after which arguments for a longer term start to turn specious. 95 years is plainly absurd. Let's hope the term limits never get abolished, such that everything we do gets controlled by the few holders indefinitely.

#copyright #copyrightLaw #copyrightTerm #DMCA #DRM #intellectualProperty #publicDomain

#Linux lets me do 95% of what I want on a computer, and I'm happy with that. #Windows lets me do everything, except make it better, so I prefer Linux. Unfortunately, it is that 5% that forces me to keep Windows on one of my computer's drives.

I had to log into Windows just so that I could use #Logitech G Hub to change my mouse's settings, thus ending my two-month streak. Wine just isn't fully there yet. Don't worry, I'm still sticking to #Fedora.

#FOSS #freeSoftware #proprietary #WineHQ

I don't know how bad #antisemitism is at #Harvard University or whether that Ivy League university is in violation of the Civil Rights Act, nor am I certain that the Department of Justice's lawsuit against it is pure in intent or just more #jawboning. One thing's for certain, though: Harvard University can easily afford to do away with funding from government, and it would not feel the pressure to kowtow to it.

https://reason.com/2026/03/20/doj-files-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-harvard-citing-campus-antisemitism/

#campusFreeSpeech #CivilRightsAct #TrumpAdministration

Yet more evidence that America's unreasonable regulations are a national security threat. This unduly red tape does nothing to serve the national interest ... or the common good.

https://reason.com/2026/03/21/chinas-rare-earth-dominance-was-made-in-america/

#bureaucracy #China #freeTrade #geopolitics #governmentFailure #nationalInterest #nationalSecurity #overregulation #permits #rareEarth #UnitedStates

This evening, I put out an essay on Wikipedia about spotting misinformation. It is marked as being in development, but it was created to help teach editors how to detect misinformation when they see it. It is preferable to have everyone decide reliability on their own over most turning to the consensus of the few who take part in WP:RSN. This will hopefully lead to higher-quality edits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Big_Blue_Gnu/sandbox/Spotting_misinformation

#Wikipedia #essay #misinformation

At a restaurant, I order food, and I get to do what I want with it. Condiments, maybe. Anyway, I own the thing. Meanwhile, I purchase the hardware, apps, games, etc., and I should be owning them by now. With #DRM, it feels as if the companies are digitally managing restrictions on what I have in my own home, straight out of their headquarters. At least with food that I bring back, I can enjoy it without the cooks breathing down my neck.

#copyright #dataPrivacy #DMCA #freeSoftware