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It seems to me a more effective solution than an open letter for tech giants would be one, or all, of the following: + Refuse to give any money to any political candidate. + Refuse to sell your products to any governmental agency. Including SaaS products. (Never going to happen, but would be great.) +…
It seems to me a more effective solution than an open letter for tech giants would be one, or all, of the following:
+ Refuse to give any money to any political candidate.
+ Refuse to sell your products to any governmental agency. Including SaaS products. (Never going to happen, but would be great.)
+ Create a pooled ad budget (like the one to promote this letter) to run ads (video and print) demanding reform.
This will never happen, but I still occasionally dream.
Great look at the practical downside of automated government spying. (via Keith H.)
Great look at the practical downside of automated government spying.
MG Siegler: > Think about how ridiculous that is for a second. A web browser needs a feature to make it easier to actually read on the web.
MG Siegler:
> Think about how ridiculous that is for a second. A web browser needs a feature to make it easier to actually read on the web.
Ellen Nakashima: > Morale has taken a hit at the National Security Agency in the wake of controversy over the agency’s surveillance activities, according to former officials who say they are dismayed that President Obama has not visited the agency to show his support. Maybe if their PowerPoint slides weren’t so fucking bad President Obama…
Ellen Nakashima:
> Morale has taken a hit at the National Security Agency in the wake of controversy over the agency’s surveillance activities, according to former officials who say they are dismayed that President Obama has not visited the agency to show his support.
Maybe if their PowerPoint slides weren’t so fucking bad President Obama would put them up on the fridge and everyone could feel better.
For this month only, you can get the yearly membership option on this site for $30 a year. That’s a $10 savings right to your wallet. *(Also, you are welcomed to upgrade from monthly membership to yearly and get the $30 price. Just cancel your membership, stay logged in and go to the join page.…
For this month only, you can get the yearly membership option on this site for $30 a year. That’s a $10 savings right to your wallet.
*(Also, you are welcomed to upgrade from monthly membership to yearly and get the $30 price. Just cancel your membership, stay logged in and go to the join page. Select the new membership and enter the info asked. You should now be rolled over. However you won’t get a refund for any partial month stuff.)*
[John Kelly](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/08/cellphone-data-spying-nsa-police/3902809/): > Armed with new technologies, including mobile devices that tap into cellphone data in real time, dozens of local and state police agencies are capturing information about thousands of cellphone users at a time, whether they are targets of an investigation or not, according to public records obtained by USA TODAY and Gannett…
[John Kelly](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/08/cellphone-data-spying-nsa-police/3902809/):
> Armed with new technologies, including mobile devices that tap into cellphone data in real time, dozens of local and state police agencies are capturing information about thousands of cellphone users at a time, whether they are targets of an investigation or not, according to public records obtained by USA TODAY and Gannett newspapers and TV stations.
This article is exactly what you expect, exactly what is stated in the above quote. What it points out though is that once you make it “ok” for one government agency to spy on people, it starts to trickle down and be “ok” for all policing agencies to spy on people.
Now it’s not just about finding terrorists — it’s about finding kidnappers, murderers, and the guy who broke into the Sheriff’s car last night. And while most of those are noble causes, unchecked, the majority of use cases become personal vendettas and lines are blurred in the name of justice.
“Consider this, about having perspective on criticism: If you enjoyed making a thing, and you’re proud of the thing you made, that’s enough.” — Wil Wheaton
Lex Berko: > What Apple has said with certainty is that it will not be storing the Beacon-collected data for itself. But in an age where data is among the most coveted of possessions, it’s not a huge escalation to imagine that someone will in the very near future. I think this is the real…
Lex Berko:
> What Apple has said with certainty is that it will not be storing the Beacon-collected data for itself. But in an age where data is among the most coveted of possessions, it’s not a huge escalation to imagine that someone will in the very near future.
I think this is the real concern. Not that Apple will collect the data, but that others will — and they *will*. It would have been great for Apple to have designed the system in a way that doesn’t allow people to collect any data. ((Maybe they have, I don’t know one way or another.))
Kim Zetter: > Earlier this year, researchers say, someone mysteriously hijacked internet traffic headed to government agencies, corporate offices and other recipients in the U.S. and elsewhere and redirected it to Belarus and Iceland, before sending it on its way to its legitimate destinations. They did so repeatedly over several months. But luckily someone did…
Kim Zetter:
> Earlier this year, researchers say, someone mysteriously hijacked internet traffic headed to government agencies, corporate offices and other recipients in the U.S. and elsewhere and redirected it to Belarus and Iceland, before sending it on its way to its legitimate destinations. They did so repeatedly over several months. But luckily someone did notice.
James Bessen: > But this ignores a peculiar feature of U.S. patent law: The Patent Office cannot actually reject any patent application. Oh, a patent examiner can issue a “rejection” letter, but the applicant can keep an application alive simply by filing a response. In turn, the patent examiner can then issue a “final rejection.”…
James Bessen:
> But this ignores a peculiar feature of U.S. patent law: The Patent Office cannot actually reject any patent application. Oh, a patent examiner can issue a “rejection” letter, but the applicant can keep an application alive simply by filing a response. In turn, the patent examiner can then issue a “final rejection.” But this, too, is doublespeak: All the patent applicant has to do is file a “continuation” under one of several possible procedures in order to keep the patent application pending for as long as 20 years.
No way we could have foreseen that being a problem later on. *No way* I say.
A sharp-eyed reader reminded me that I have gotten lazy about adding photos to my post. I just updated the Field Pocket post with some photos. Apologies.
A sharp-eyed reader reminded me that I have gotten lazy about adding photos to my post. I just updated the Field Pocket post with some photos.
Apologies.
WSJ: > The arrangement is flatly unconstitutional. *Popcorn.* (via DF)
Thank God for baseball season again. Dave Cameron: > It could also be a total disaster, though. If the other moves don’t come together, or simply aren’t enough to turn a bad team into a good team, the Mariners could easily have the best second baseman in baseball surrounded by a supporting cast that still…
Thank God for baseball season again. Dave Cameron:
> It could also be a total disaster, though. If the other moves don’t come together, or simply aren’t enough to turn a bad team into a good team, the Mariners could easily have the best second baseman in baseball surrounded by a supporting cast that still doesn’t leave them with a better than .500 club. And this team is very vulnerable to injuries, especially to either Cano or Hernandez, who represent a huge chunk of the team’s chances of contention. A prolonged DL stint by either one probably sinks their season.
I hate long contracts. Five years seems like far too long for baseball. (But salary and contract lengths have gotten crazy.) I hope this works out, but then again, Mariners.
Go Ms?
Eric Klinker on the BitTorrent Sync blog: > Today, Sync is moving over 20 gigabytes per person. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. Dropbox’s cloud-based platform stores less than 0.42 gigabytes per user. Wow. It really is a fantastic service. I’d love to see more iOS developer support though.
Eric Klinker on the BitTorrent Sync blog:
> Today, Sync is moving over 20 gigabytes per person. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. Dropbox’s cloud-based platform stores less than 0.42 gigabytes per user.
Wow. It really is a fantastic service. I’d love to see more iOS developer support though.
Simply fantastic post from Andy Beaumont: > The web has seemingly evolved into something that actively antagonises people — why would anyone in their right mind hide the content that visitors are there to see? (via DF)
Simply fantastic post from Andy Beaumont:
> The web has seemingly evolved into something that actively antagonises people — why would anyone in their right mind hide the content that visitors are there to see?
Lives up to the title.
Lives up to the title.
Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani: > The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have…
Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani:
> The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.
Here’s the fun part:
> NSA Director Keith Alexander disclosed in Senate testimony in October that the NSA had run a pilot project in 2010 and 2011 to collect “samples” of U.S. cellphone location data. The data collected were never available for intelligence analysis purposes, and the project was discontinued because it had no “operational value,” he said.
Jon Brodkin: > Newly anointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said this week that it would be OK for Internet service providers to charge Netflix and other companies for a faster lane to consumers. [If only we could have seen that coming](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/new-fcc-chairman-is-former-lobbyist-for-cable-and-wireless-industries/).
Jon Brodkin:
> Newly anointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said this week that it would be OK for Internet service providers to charge Netflix and other companies for a faster lane to consumers.
[If only we could have seen that coming](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/new-fcc-chairman-is-former-lobbyist-for-cable-and-wireless-industries/).
[Rather sensationalist headline on this post from Will Oremus][1]: > Score one for the machines. On Tuesday, Applebee’s announced plans to install a tablet at every table in its 1,860 restaurants across the United States. Customers will be able to use the devices to order food, pay the bill, and ignore their dining companions by…
[Rather sensationalist headline on this post from Will Oremus][1]:
> Score one for the machines. On Tuesday, Applebee’s announced plans to install a tablet at every table in its 1,860 restaurants across the United States. Customers will be able to use the devices to order food, pay the bill, and ignore their dining companions by playing video games.
I am all for this, in fact I would pay more to not have to interact with servers — instead getting a tablet. Do you know why?
Because we waited 25 minutes the other night at Red Robin to place our order. That’s after placing a drink order and waiting 15 minutes for soda. Total time to order our food: 40 minutes. Anyone who has a kid knows how bad that is — then we had to wait for the food, which took forever.
Chain restaurants, the kind you take kids to, are massively under staffed. This under staffing leads to really shitty experiences and that drives me nuts. Bring on tablets, that or airline server call buttons. I’d take either.
[1]: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/12/03/tablets_at_restaurants_applebee_s_chili_s_race_to_eliminate_human_interaction.html
$39 a month, or $399 a year. *Good luck with that.*
$39 a month, or $399 a year.
*Good luck with that.*