The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues, Johnny Otis, died today at the age of ninety.  The long, joyful ride of the Johnny Otis Show has finally come to an end. Johnny Otis was the son of Greek immigrants, but his wholehearted adoption of black culture and music led a lot of fans (including me) to [...]

  Sometime back, I posted My Three Laws, in which I posit laws of the universe which I seem to have been the first to discover, or at least to articulate. I think I’ve just come up with a fourth. Williams’ Law #4: The Internet will never love you. Discuss.

In our bustling world of seven billion people, it’s all to easy to lose track of what one individual might be able to accomplish.  How likely is it that a single private individual, spurred by conscience and moral conviction, can put into action the forces that could overthrow the established tyranny of, say, Moammar Qaddafi. [...]

The Zetas, Mexico’s ultra-violent drug cartel, is now reported as having their own encrypted radio net. Since 2006, the cartels have maintained an encrypted DIY radio network that stretches across nearly all 31 Mexican states, even down south into Guatemala. The communications infrastructure of the narco-gangs that have turned Mexico into a gangster’s paradise consists [...]