Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

I Watched the Sheriff’s Debate

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

Feeling ignorant about the race for the first elected Sheriff in Miami-Dade in over 50 years, I watched the debate on CBS-4 this evening between Republican Rosanna (“Rosi”) Cordero-Stutz and Democrat James Reyes.  Jim DeFede did a great job as moderator.

Mostly it wasn’t a slam dunk debate.  Cordero-Stutz scored a point on Reyes’s lack of experience as a beat cop.  (Reyes replied we’re electing a manager, not someone to write tickets.) Reyes scored on Cordero-Stutz being endorsed by Incitement-to-Riot-in-Chief Donald Trump. He also scored on Cordero-Stutz blowing off court dates and depositions in a civil suit a decade ago—a bad look for a law-and-order candidate.  Generally Reyes was calmer and better spoken; what I saw as Cordero-Stutz’s querulousness and willingness to interrupt others might see as passion. Both seemed experienced and informed.

The sharpest difference came on whether Miami-Dade police should cooperate with ICE if they come in and try to do a mass roundup of alleged illegal immigrants. Reyes said, simply, never. Cordeor-Stutz danced about: she said she wouldn’t help enforce federal immigration law but allowed that she’d allow for support activities to ‘protect the community’ if there was a risk that the federal actions might cause a disturbance.

That seems like a telling difference.  Depending on how you came into the issue, it might push you one way or the other—for me a reluctance to assist in (hypothetical) mass round-ups seems like a strong selling point.  Others might say for the Sheriff’s Office, public safety trumps standing up for a matter of principle. I’d say none of us are safe if there are mass round-ups….

Posted in 2024 Election, Miami | Comments Off on I Watched the Sheriff’s Debate

So This Amazing Thing Came in the Mail

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

I found this waiting for me when I got home from hospital/rehab, postmarked Sept. 12. The return address on the envelope said it was from the “Democratic Party of Florida”. And why not–I’ve donated to it.

So I opened it up. It was not what I expected.

Fake_letterr

Although this is an evil fake–a dirty trick–I hesitate to call it fraud since there is no attempt to get money. It’s just lunacy of the first order. But I suppose there are people who are prepared to believe Democrats are Communists. It is after all a staple of local Spanish-language radio….

The content, however demented, is protected by the First Amendment. But claiming it is a production of the “Democratic Party of Florida” is a lie. But not every lie in politics is illegal; if it were Trump would have been in jail a long time ago.

Incidentally, if you want more stuff like this, the “Combat Veterans for Congress PAC” homepage (I won’t link to it), is full of more of the same.

Posted in 2024 Election | Comments Off on So This Amazing Thing Came in the Mail

Multi-Line Tabs in Firefox 131

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

Note to self:
1. Go  to about:support
2. Find the profile folder
3. edit user.css
4. Add the following & save (NB. see “settings” below)


/* Source file https://github.com/MrOtherGuy/firefox-csshacks/tree/master/chrome/multi-row_tabs.css made available under Mozilla Public License v. 2.0
See the above repository for updates as well as full license text. */

/* Makes tabs to appear on multiple lines
* Tab reordering will not work and can't be made to work
* You can use multi-row_tabs_window_control_patch.css to move window controls to nav-bar
* You might want to move tabs-new-tab-button outside tabs toolbar for smoother behavior */

/* SETTINGS (you need to create and set these prefs to true in about:config)
* userchrome.multirowtabs.full-width-tabs.enabled  - make tabs grow horizontally to fill all available space
* userchrome.multirowtabs.scrollbar-handle.enabled - make scrollbar in tabs box respond to mouse, makes it imposiible to drag window from empty space in tabs box */

:root{
--multirow-n-rows: 3; /* change maximum number of rows before the rows will start to scroll /
--multirow-tab-min-width: 100px;
--multirow-tab-dynamic-width: 1; / Change to 0 for fixed-width tabs using the above width. */
}

#tabbrowser-tabs{
min-height: unset !important;
padding-inline-start: 0px !important
}

@-moz-document url(chrome://browser/content/browser.xhtml){
#scrollbutton-up~spacer,
#scrollbutton-up,
#scrollbutton-down{ display: var(--scrollbutton-display-model,initial) }

scrollbox[part][orient="horizontal"] > slot,
scrollbox[part][orient="horizontal"]{
display: flex;
flex: 1;
flex-wrap: wrap;
overflow-y: auto;
max-height: calc((var(--tab-min-height) + 2 * var(--tab-block-margin,0px)) * var(--multirow-n-rows));
scrollbar-color: currentColor transparent;
scrollbar-width: thin;
scrollbar-gutter: stable;
scroll-snap-type: y mandatory;
}
scrollbox[part][orient="horizontal"] > slot{
overflow-x: hidden;
}
}

.scrollbox-clip[orient="horizontal"],
#tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox{
overflow: -moz-hidden-unscrollable;
display: inline;
--scrollbutton-display-model: none;
}

.tabbrowser-tab{ scroll-snap-align: start; }

#tabbrowser-tabs .tabbrowser-tab[pinned]{
position: static !important;
margin-inline-start: 0px !important;
}

.tabbrowser-tab[fadein]:not([pinned]){
min-width: var(--multirow-tab-min-width) !important;
flex-grow: var(--multirow-tab-dynamic-width) !important;
}

.tabbrowser-tab > stack{ width: 100%; height: 100% }

/* remove bottom margin so it doesn't throw off row height computation */
#tabs-newtab-button{ margin-bottom: 0 !important; }

#tabbrowser-tabs[hasadjacentnewtabbutton][overflow] > #tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox > #tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox-periphery > #tabs-newtab-button {
display: flex !important;
}

#alltabs-button,
:root:not([customizing]) #TabsToolbar #new-tab-button,
#tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox > spacer,
.tabbrowser-tab::after{ display: none !important }

@media (-moz-bool-pref: "userchrome.multirowtabs.full-width-tabs.enabled"){
.tabbrowser-tab[fadein]:not([pinned]){ max-width: 100vw !important; }
}
@media (-moz-bool-pref: "userchrome.multirowtabs.scrollbar-handle.enabled"){
#tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox{ -moz-window-dragging: no-drag }
}

Posted in Software | Comments Off on Multi-Line Tabs in Firefox 131

Unsubtle

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

Perhaps this is no time for subtlety.

Posted in 2024 Election | Comments Off on Unsubtle

Lincoln Project Says, Man Up

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

Preaching to the choir or effective messaging?  Being in the choir, I’m not sure….

Posted in 2024 Election | 1 Comment

We Robot 2025 Call for Papers

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Michael Froomkin

On April 3-5, 2025, We Robot is coming to Canada! Since We Robot’s inception in 2012, this peer-reviewed interdisciplinary conference has brought together leading scholars and practitioners to discuss legal and policy questions relating to robots.

We Robot 2025 will be hosted by Windsor Law in the beautiful new Ron W. Ianni building, located beside the busiest international commercial crossing between Canada and the United States.

The city and the University of Windsor sit on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. Waawiiatanong (“Where the River Bends” in Anishinaabemowin) has served as a meeting place for centuries.

We Robot is the most exciting interdisciplinary conference on the legal and policy questions relating to robots. The increasing sophistication of robots and their widespread introduction everywhere—from the battlefield to the home, from hospitals to public spaces—disrupts existing legal regimes and requires new thinking on policy issues.

If you are on the front lines of robot theory, design, or development, we hope to see you here in Windsor. Come join the conversations between the people designing, building, and deploying robots, and the people who design or influence the legal and social structures in which robots will operate.

Posted in Robots, Talks & Conferences | Comments Off on We Robot 2025 Call for Papers