Outside the Beltway

American politicians are using China as a scapegoat for America’s problems.

Apple has won a huge victory in the smart phone patent wars. If the news reporting is accurate, the outcome doesn’t pass the common sense test.

TechCrunch’s Alexia Tsotsis declares “Siri Is The New Clippy.”

A new lawsuit from Google’s Motorola Mobility subsidiary seeks to bar Apple from importing it’s most popular products into the United States.

Facebook’s stock has lost nearly 50% of its value since the company went public, and the plunge probably isn’t over.

Storing all your data in the cloud isn’t necessarily a good idea.

At least one law student needs a refresher course in the First Amendment.

Most of us with iPhone 4’s use Siri, the voice-activated digital assistant–but for a very limited range of tasks.

Janelle Nanos investigates her relationship with her iPhone.

Is there any there there?

It’s not just low wages that have kept technology manufacturing jobs out of the United States.

OTB is available on Google Currents.

A new patent granted to Apple raises once again the question of how far patent protections should extend.

Pondering Tea Party comparisons as well as the “does it matter?” question.

California’s Governor has vetoed a bill that would have reversed a very misguided decision by that state’s Supreme Court.

A complexity of social policy is the need for universality. This is why pure market models are incompatible with government action.

The idea that students raised in the Information Age are therefore savvy about information is a dangerous but pervasive myth.

The very question is rather dubious.

Before achieving astounding success, Steve Jobs had to experience disappointment and failure.

What’s the bottom line in the Texas jobs discussion?

Beck heads to the internet.

Apple isn’t the only company collecting data off their smartphones.

Why, yes, my iPhone has indeed been tracking me since last summer.

A special surprise was waiting this morning for those who subscribe to Jim Geraghty’s Jolt newsletter.

Is social media killing electronic mail?

The next-generation iPhone 5 is rumored to have a 4 inch screen and even a slide-out keypad.

What happened to the 15 million jobs that were supposed to be created in the past 10 years but weren’t?

Contrary to current conservative talking points, Net Neutrality is not a nefarious government scheme to takeover the Internet, but is aimed to address a real problem. Like most ideas that involve the government, though, it doesn’t really address the real source of the problem; not enough freedom

The Federal Communications Commission is using a statute from the 1930s to try to regulate the technology of the 21st Century. It’s a mistake.

Did you know that the iPhone is made in China for a mere $6.50? It’s false but true!

Insane Clown Posse are Christians, yo. And they say Fuck a lot.

InstaPaper’s business model is stealing content created by others, stripping it of the ads that pay the creators, and running their own advertising on it.

Robert Lane Greene investigates the rise of acronyms, initialisms, and other informal shortenings of speech.

The media is now starting to look at it’s own role in the whole Koran burning story, but the truth is that there really wasn’t any way they could’ve ignored the story.

Wired proclaims, “The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet.” It’s great linkbait but completely wrongheaded.