Wendy M. Grossman

Freelance writer specializing in computers, freedom, and privacy, aka "net.wars", published every Friday at netwars.pelicancrossing.net. (#NetWars). Contributing editor, Plutopia News Network podcast. Regular visitor to the Tech Grumps podcast. Founder The Skeptic (UK). Folksinger. See https://www.pelicancrossing.net for more. also Wendy M. Grossman (npub1gsa…q4wj) on Bluesky. New folk music CD 2024: The Last Trip Home, https://www.pelicancrossing.net/lasttriphome.htm. Will be live at the Old Songs Folk Festival 2025!!

Profession: freelance writer
Based: London, UK (but American)
Interests: Computers, freedom, and privacy
Website: https://www.pelicancrossing.net

Public Key

npub1gsas3ytr9jsj6mha4mwwxqx5q393qsejvvcernj8man30sj6fwaq2lq4wj

NIP-05 Address

wendyg_at_mastodon.xyz@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsygwcgj93jegfddm76ah8rqr2qgjcsgvexxvv3eera7echcfdyhwsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntnsqvm3

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1gsas3ytr9jsj6mha4mwwxqx5q393qsejvvcernj8man30sj6fwaq2lq4wj

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Last Notes

2026-03-20 11:51:29 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Turn left at the robot", goes to the Human-Robot Interaction conference and finds that in robots versus kids the kids win every time: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2026/03/20/turn-left-at-the-robot/, #NetWars #robots

2026-03-13 12:31:46 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Power games", finds the UK's digital ID proposals back in the news, along with alarming new amendments to the Online Safety Act: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2026/03/13/power-games/

2026-03-12 15:28:05 UTC

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Depends. What kind of braed, how much salt, and where was the bagel made?

2025-12-19 08:21:32 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Slop", marks iRobot's bankruptcy and sale; wonders why, if generative AI is so great it has to be forced on us; and deplores the CBP plan to demand an unrealistic amount of "high-value data" as part of the price of visiting the US: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/12/19/slop/ #NetWars #privacy #robots

2025-09-16 08:55:41 UTC

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I suspect the "editors" approaching you for money were not real Wikipedia editors.

2025-08-30 16:55:13 UTC

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Do kids shop at CVS?

2025-07-16 14:18:53 UTC

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True, but the "fast" part hasn't been DDG's MO.

2025-07-04 10:36:42 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Second sight", recounts the results of four months comparing the difference a cataract makes: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/07/04/second-sight/ #NetWars #cataracts

2025-06-24 17:04:09 UTC

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Hope cat improves. Say hi to your mom for me; we all met at Ebertfest the year Sita was on.

2025-06-20 10:08:50 UTC

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2025-05-25 08:57:59 UTC

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CPDP will post video from the conference. I highly recommend watching all of @npub1zw2…v03f 's speech.

2025-05-23 11:24:48 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Dangerous corner", goes to CPDP and finds that privacy issues have expanded to include the electrical grid and farming. "Simplify!" says the EU. For whose benefit? https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/05/23/dangerous-corner/ #NetWars #privacy #HumanRights #CPDP

2025-05-14 19:20:24 UTC

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She also might prefer not to be called "classic" just yet. :)

2025-05-13 09:37:14 UTC

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How about our own @npub1p9u…ec3n ?

2025-05-07 13:26:11 UTC

@npub1wdd…h9qu talks to Will Kreth about digital identity and the future of fakery: https://plutopia.io/will-kreth-human-and-digital/ #podcast

2025-05-07 11:37:04 UTC

I am amused on behalf of @npub18kk…4h5l to see that the TSA in the US is accepting utility bills and mortgage statements as backup identification for those whose driver's licenses do not meet the requirements of RealID.

2025-05-03 16:47:05 UTC

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Yes, except the Guardian doesn't actually force you to pay. You can clear the banner and go on reading.

2025-05-03 11:35:44 UTC

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I think the pendulum swings. In the early 1990s, you couldn't trust much. Then came the period when you *could*. You can still find valid information, but it's definitely harder than it was.

2025-05-02 11:21:21 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Lawfaring", visits Apple's day being rebuked by the court, 23andMe in bankruptcy proceedings, and Palantir's work on the master database to rule them all: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/05/02/lawfaring/ #NetWars #Apple #Privacy

2025-04-30 19:40:51 UTC

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What precisely is hte threat model?

2025-02-24 14:28:15 UTC

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But even the actual journalists are different. These days, Woodward saves his best scoops for the book that comes out two years later.

2025-02-19 12:05:28 UTC

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That's what I mean by "superpower". But the docs see needing readingd glasses as "normal" and needing distance glasses as "not normal, needs to be fixed", so it's uphill persuading them...

2025-02-19 10:51:52 UTC

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yeah, but I care alot more about reading without glasses than I do about distance vision.

2025-02-18 23:23:39 UTC

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that's what I am afraid of. They really don't like not doing some correction

2025-02-18 16:09:48 UTC

Query to anyone who's had cataracct surgery: 1) What did you wish you'd known beforehadn; 2) What do you tell people to ask their surgeon before proceeding? Much obliged for answers.

2025-02-05 16:31:30 UTC

Oh, people who use Google Forms: is there a setting that can be turned off that requires respondents to sign in with a Google account? If so, can you tell me how to find it (asking for a frustrated organization...) and turn it off? Much ob,iged.

2024-12-27 16:19:38 UTC

This week's net.wars, "Non-playing characters" finds Spotify's push into fake music; drops in on a fine technical debate at the soon-to-be-reformed House of Lords; and records the death of John "JI" Ioannidis, who was "severely undercredited" for the invention of mobile IP: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2024/12/27/non-playing-characters/ (with thanks to @npub1wve…p78x ) #NetWars #music #spotify #copyright #UK #AI

2024-11-29 18:40:09 UTC

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What if you remove the battery?

2024-11-22 11:24:49 UTC

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What's also weird is the fuss about starter packs on Bluesky - Mastodon has those, too, only they're just spreadsheets lists of various categories of people and their accounts that you import all at once. Just not institutionalized the same way.