The grand ambitions of the people that deface websites

(The continuing crisis: still don't have Internet on my main laptop.  Netbook seems to be working, so at least I'm writing on a computer I actually own.)

Did you know that we can use songbird brains to synthesize estrogen?

Or, right, blog post.

As most of you know, I'm a bit of a fringe guy when it comes to computer science.  I work in a pair of very low profile fields (Computational Geometry and Geospatial Programming) that don't do anything cool, haven't done anything cool for years and have no plans on ever launching a robot that can make a cat happy via a good brush down.

Side note: that robot is damn awesome.  It is remotely controlled via a pair of Wii-motes, a treadmill, and everyone's favorite controller for everything except gaming, Microsoft's Kinect.  And yes, outside of a minor head bashing, the cat really does seem to enjoy itself.  I took this as a sign that cats will ally themselves with our future robot overlords and work as spies- cute and cuddly during the day, giving away valuable intel about the human resistance at night.

It may already be too late

"Relimited, what the hell were you doing, going on about your stupid computer science work when you had the cat brushing wonder up your sleeve?" I hear you ask in my head.

I hate to say this, but you're being a bit of a dick.  I had a point and was getting to it, but no, you just want the good stuff.  Fine.  Jerkface.

It turns out hackers plan on having their own satellite grid.  Yeah, that's right- those nerdy kids back in high school have decided to stop taking your shit and want to launch the Hammer of Dawn to prove it.

Not really, but the basic idea is that individuals and small groups will have access to launching and maintain their own satellites.  The real trick isn't the stuff in space, but the ground stations required to monitor the stuff in space, so you don't lose track of where the hell the stuff is.

Honey, where the fuck did you leave the remote?

The hackers hope to have low cost ground stations you can buy for about $150 on a non-profit basis, which actually is pretty cheap.  The end goal is to have a totally privately owned space-based internet for hackers and their friends.

So, when the government introduces bills like SOPA, hackers go, "Fuck you, I'll just surf the web from space!"  Which is exactly how real life problems should be tackled- always go for the most awesome solution.