Month: July 2013

[Ed Payne and Rene Marsh for CNN][1]: > A new government report says misconduct by Transportation Security Administration workers has increased more than 26% in the last three years. And: > “There’s not even a way to properly report some of the offenses, so this may be just the tip of the iceberg of some […]

XKeyscore makes PRISM look like child’s play, here’s [Glenn Greenwald reporting on the latest Snowden leak][1]: > XKeyscore, the documents boast, is the NSA’s “widest reaching” system developing intelligence from computer networks – what the agency calls Digital Network Intelligence (DNI). One presentation claims the program covers “nearly everything a typical user does on the […]

Since O’Neill’s post mentions Calca, I thought I should talk a little bit about the latest nerd calculating tool. [Calca bills itself as a: “Humane Symbolic Calculator”][1]. While I have no clue what that means, it’s very catchy. I downloaded the Mac version and have very mixed feelings about the app. I have no doubt […]

Sid O’Neill sent me a link on App.net to his Keyboard Maestro macro and holy crap. [This is one hell of a useful macro, you need this.][1] I have to say I was very skeptical at first that this would work, but good lord does this work well. Very cool stuff. [1]: http://crateofpenguins.com/blog/2013-7-textexpander-snippets-and-keyboard-maestro-macro-to-solve-math-in-your-text-editor

Back before I started this site, I had the tedious task of coming up with the table plan for our wedding. We thought long and hard about just letting it be a free for all, but for reasons I cannot remember we both decided that assigned seating was best. It sounds like a really simple […]

[Brett Terpstra on tagging in Mavericks][1]: > Offering a universal system that allows files to pass seamlessly from one app to another and be organized in more powerful ways is not just a nice gesture, it’s integral to killing off our current file-in-folder mindset. I scoffed at tagging until I read Brett’s post — he […]

[Glenn Greenwald via Kari Rea on George Stephanopoulos’ show][1]: > And what these programs are, are very simple screens, like the ones that supermarket clerks or shipping and receiving clerks use, where all an analyst has to do is enter an email address or an IP address, and it does two things.  It searches that […]

[John Mutter][1]: > Another possible reason for Amazon’s boldness is its apparently cozy relationship with the Obama administration–whose Justice Department pursued the agency model case, which mainly benefited Amazon. This relationship will be highlighted this coming Tuesday, when the president will give another major speech on the economy and aiding the middle class at, of […]

“What we have is a crisis of imagination. Albert Einstein said that you cannot solve a problem with the same mind-set that created it.” — Peter Buffett

[David Kravets][1]: > On Wednesday, the house voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters. Shocking? No. Nonetheless, disgusting? Yes. [1]: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/money-nsa-vote/?utm_medium=App.net

*Disclaimer: Ben did not ask me to write this post, nor did I run it by him before I published it (not that I do any other time). These are my personal views, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this site or its owner. But seriously, I’m totally right.* As some of you […]

[Natasha Singer on the idea behind this new agreement][1]: > The code of conduct would require participating mobile app developers to show notices indicating whether their apps collected user-specific details in any of eight categories: biometrics, including fingerprints or facial recognition data; Web browsing history; logs of phone calls or texts made or received; contact […]

[For a good laugh, Jonathan San’s ‘Microsoft Word Problems’][1]: > 6. A college student, Mary, spends 307 hours writing her 35-page thesis paper, “Kafka on the Shore: An Existential Look at the Battle of Normandy.” But instead of choosing “save as,” she clicks “save,” filing her document in a mysterious temporary folder. To the nearest […]

[Andy, at TorrentFreak has a rundown of sites that might be defaulted to “blocked” in the UK.][1] What’s most curious to me is how this may harm the elderly generations. For example: do you think your parents, or grandparents, would be able to find these checkboxes, know what they mean, and be able to turn […]

Just a reminder, I’ll be selecting a winner *tomorrow* so if you want in on a chance to get a great backpack for free, become a member before then.

[Allen Pike on how irrelevant iOS App Store search results are][1]: > This might make some sort of sense for somebody new to the App Store, but for a person who’s trying to find a specific type of app it’s crazy-making. Suggesting Instagram when I search for Twitter is like suggesting Nickelback when I search […]

[Jeff Daniels’ character Will McAvoy in The Newsroom][1]: > We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. My wife and I just started watching *The Newsroom* last night — it’s a fantastic show — and this monologue from the […]

[Craig Mod suggesting changes to iMessage][1]: > We all have an Apple ID. iMessage associated email addresses and phone numbers should sync around it. Let’s get rid of per-device settings. They just confuse everyone. The vast majority of us don’t need that much granularity. He’s got a great list of suggestions, but I must be […]

[ Cliff Mass ][1]: > A few days ago, a well known ratings group found Seattle to be the NUMBER ONE city in the U.S. for pleasant summer weather, while Portland followed in second place.  Even major newspapers like the Los Angeles Times seemed to agree. Cliff Mass breaks down 9 reasons why Seattle has some of […]

“If we create great work and send it out into the world using a delivery mechanism conducive to piracy, it’s no wonder we end up getting screwed. As creators, we need to think smarter.” — Connor Thomas O’Brien