internet
FBI’s Online Wiretapping and your Computer
How the FBI’s online wiretapping plan could get your computer hacked ‘The fundamental problem is that eavesdropping facilities are a double-edged sword. They make it easier for the U.S. government to spy on the bad guys. But they also make it easier for the bad guys to hack our computers and spy on us. And, […]
A Case of Legal Drone Intrusion
Creep stalks woman with drone — legally ‘…The mysterious drone operator may be perfectly right. Legislation on new technologies can often take some time to catch up with the technologies themselves, and it’s perfectly possible he was technically operating within the law. ‘As the Atlantic notes, talking to a Harvard public policy expert, there would […]
School Privatizers Buy State-Level Elections
‘Billing itself as “the nation’s voice for educational choice,” the American Federation for Children pushes forward students of color as the beneficiaries of its lobbying work, but the politicians they support are not exactly heroes of the civil-rights movement. ‘Dark money for TV and radio ads further obscures the school-choice issue. Often, these are ads […]
EULA and the Advantage of Free Apps
EULA – acronym for End-user license agreement This EULA Will Make You Rethink Every App and Online Service You Use ‘…Without the public road, and utterly unencumbered access to it, a child’s lemonade stand would never turn a profit. The real business opportunity would be in privatizing other people’s roads. ‘Similarly, without an open, unified […]
Is Fight About Online Privacy Futile?
Even the supercybersleuth Eugene Kaspersky says forget about it ‘…the Internet is not only a place to be humiliated. It’s also a place for people or companies to pick up even more information about you. That includes your address, gender, date of birth and, with a little sleuthing, your Social Security number and credit history. […]
Discovery: Internet’s Physical Infrastructure
Can a squirrel ‘chew the Internet’? How a squirrel sent a journalist around the world to uncover the Internet’s physical infrastructure ‘“He said something to me that changed my life. He said ‘I think a squirrel is chewing on your internet’. And this of course seemed preposterous, because as all of you know the internet […]
A Googler’s Nightmare
When Google banned me from AdSense without explanation, I thought it was a severe case of dictatorship. But I recently learned not to expect explanations from Busy FREE services. Google can suspend your accounts without notice and explanation. When that happened to Tienlon Ho, he tried asking friends who work at Google for help but […]
Should We Care About Tsarnaev’s Miranda Rights?
Just imagine you were mistaken for Tsarnaev and you forgot your rights and police won’t remind you? ‘There is one specific circumstance in which it makes sense to hold off on Miranda. It’s exactly what the name of the exception suggests. The police can interrogate a suspect without offering him the benefit of Miranda if […]
Useful Low-cost Digital Camera Hacks
‘The prime amateur photography lesson is that it’s just about composition and light. But the second most important lesson was taught to me by a professional photographer whom I hesitantly asked about the best kinds of photography accessories. He told me to just shoot more and learn till I find that I can’t absolutely do […]
“Trolls” Paid for by Governments
‘Trolls’ are simply comments made to provoke anger and garner attention So why do people troll? Can we prevent trolling or limit the damage trolls do? Here are some thoughts on trollology derived from academic studies and web research. ‘Another way to consider trolling from is Dr. Phil’s viewpoint: People only engage in repeated behavior […]
