Anonymity online

I have written in the past (see here) about posting anonymously to blogs and forums. Well, now a judge in Texas has ruled that the First Amendment doesn't offer the right to libel someone, anonymously or otherwise. Tarrant County District Court Judge Dana Womack served a subpoena to Topix.com to turn over any potentially identifying information it has on 178 people. The people had anonymously posted allegedly defamatory comments on the site about two individuals involved in a sexual assault case. See Computerworld's article about the case here.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

My Grandpa Van Ry would have turned 98 today. He came to America from Holland when he was 12 years old. He didn't speak English at the time, but, learned to speak it fluently before he was 20 years old. I learned many things from grandpa including the value of hard work. He worked hard his whole life to provide for his wife and 4 children. He didn't expect a handout from anyone. He was proud of his Dutch heritage, but, considered the USA his country. He died March 20, 2001. I love and miss you, grandpa! Happy Birthday!