Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Introduction I hesitated to change themes because, well, it’s one of those things people do instead of writing. But while my customized version of Quite Big theme had treated me very well, I hate using Tumblr’s default mobile theme on phones, or seeing my desktop-optimized layout on a tablet. I also …Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Student loses suit over school ID requirementWired's David Kravets reports that: The girl’s father, Steven, wrote the school district explaining why removing the chip wasn’t good enough, that the daughter should be free from displaying the card altogether. “‘We must obey the word of God,” the …Wednesday, January 9, 2013
California Scout group recommends openly gay member for EagleThe Scouts’ central authority is unlikely to honor the recommendation because of their culture of fear and hate toward LGBTQ people. And the law may be on Boy Scouts of America’s side, at least for now, but history is not. Future …Tuesday, January 8, 2013
App to App HandshakesFred Wilson: This morning I was at the gym listening to the Django Unchained Soundtrack on my phone in the SoundCloud android app. I decided I wanted to make Trinity my song of the day on Tumblr. I hit the share icon, up came a list of apps, I selected Tumblr, and I was taken …Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Seldo’s Tumblr: Another awesome US immigration experienceseldo: So a little over a month ago I finally got my green card. So for the first time in 7 years of living in the US and periodically leaving it to visit my family, I wasn’t terrified that my visa documents wouldn’t be in order and I’d …Monday, January 7, 2013
Subscribe to The Brief if you like concise daily updates on the tech news that mattersThe ads weren’t working, so The Brief is now accepting $3/month or $30/year memberships. The incredibly useful site by Richard Dunlop-Walters will remain free to all, but it’s continued existence is now predicated …Monday, January 7, 2013
Keycard: A neat little Mac app that secures your computer by detecting the proximity of your mobile device - The Next WebMatt Brian writing at The Next Web: In our tests, I had mixed results. Initially, my iPhone continued to remain in range, meaning that if I was to walk around the office or …Monday, January 7, 2013
Antivirus pioneer John McAfee spying on BelizeNate Anderson, at Ars Technica: You will not be shocked to learn, dear reader, that McAfee’s massive spy operation didn’t just reveal some petty corruption or embarrassing secrets but rather the existence of a Hezbollah trafficking network that funneled …Monday, January 7, 2013
Airrand mashes up tasks, Foursquare, and SMSThis is a brilliant and elegant use of Foursquare. It’s just a web app, at least for now, so it doesn’t really fit my use case. But it looks impressive and I’m going to give it a try.Saturday, January 5, 2013
CIA Comments on Zero Dark ThirtyDeborah Pearlstein of the law blog Opinio Juris shared the statement of Michael Morell, the Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on the film Zero Dark Thirty, about the hunt for and capture of Osama Bin Laden. Its interesting that he would feel …Friday, January 4, 2013
At least one Ars Technica reader agrees: Rdio > SpotifyArs Technica reader jamieskella, contributing to Chris Foresman’s reader recommendation round-up for all those newly-gifted iPads out there: How and why is Spotify still being recommended when Rdio (free) boasts 18 million songs and is …Thursday, January 3, 2013
Learning by ShippingFormer Windows executive Steven Sinofsky, explaining the name of his new blog: The title comes from something impressed upon me early in my career, which is that learning as an engineer comes from the process of starting, then finishing, and iterating on products–getting …Thursday, January 3, 2013
An interview with Mailbox founder Gentry UnderwoodAbdel Ibrahim, interviewing Mailbox founder Gentry Underwood at The Tech Block: Any plans for an Android app? Definitely. Startups focus or die, so we picked one device (iPhone) and one platform (Gmail) to start, but we’ve designed our …Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Government can still warrantlessly read older emailsThis is unfortunate. There are processes in place that are designed to ensure the preservation of various constitutional rights. The warrant process is one of the most important, and for many people email is far more ubiquitous than other forms of …Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Netflix via AmazonThis is interesting: Netflix delivers its streaming option via one of Amazon’s cloud storage and content distribution networks. I try to avoid summarizing other peoples’ work, but the other interesting bit here is that Amazon’s in-house streaming video service saw no interruption. …Saturday, December 22, 2012
Rdio now sends you a notification when artists in your collection release new musicPeople who prefer Spotify to Rdio either don’t know Rdio exists (Rdio’s problem) or are totally crazy (their problem). What makes Rdio the better service: New release notifications for the music you love UI and UX …Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Nilay Patel on what we agree to when we use cloud servicesNilay Patel at The Verge reads some Terms of Service and drops some knowledge bombs. It’s definitely a must-read if you’re a Google, Dropbox, iCloud, or Skydrive user. So, if you’re on the internet at all, basically.Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Tor: An Anonymous, And Controversial, Way to Web-SurfTor gets a headline at WSJ.com.Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Federal Trade Commission to data brokers: Show us your dataJessica Guynn of the LA Times: The FTC wants to know what the brokers do with the information. It also wants to know if the data brokers let consumers review and correct their personal information or opt out from having their personal …Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Google Music gains scan and match feature in the USNice.Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News splitting into separate paywall sitesGawker’s Hamilton Nolan’s theory of the paywall suggests a local paper of high caliber can survive erecting a paywall. Maybe he is right, but can two local papers survive? It will be good to see the Inquirer and the Daily News …Sunday, December 9, 2012
96.36 billion cyberattacks against the US Navy each yearThe Next Web's Emil Protalinski, quoting HP's head of enterprise services Mikle Nefkens: “This means the attacks average out at about 1,833 per minute or 30 every second.” Those figures are simply astonishing. Extrapolating the other way, it …Friday, December 7, 2012
Washington Post reports “a person familiar with the plans” says Washington Post considering paywallOh. So. Meta.Friday, December 7, 2012
For Netflix and the S.E.C., a Facebook Share Should Be Public EnoughIt’s true, but not really because lots of people can follow Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Facebook, but because many reporters actually do. This was not going to go unreported.Thursday, December 6, 2012
Drones in our backyardsThe Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Jennifer Lynch explains how EFF got data on active drones over US soil. I’m not prone to slippery slope arguments, but with the volume of cyberattacks directed at the US each year, it’s not ridiculous to suggest that our drones may be …Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tim Cook tells Brian Williams TV is “an area of intense interest”Ronnie Polidoro, writing at NBC: “When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years,” Cook told Williams. “It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than …Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sign Language Researchers Broaden Science LexiconThis is wonderful stuff: with a shortage of STEM talent these days, it’s imperative to involve all those who are interested, and this project serves to reduce the barrier to entry for deaf students. (Via Evening Edition)Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The World Conference on International CommunicationsThis is important, and Richard Dunlop-Walters’s The Brief has a great, ongoing summary of the issue and the news coming out of the World Conference on International Communications. It may seem dry at first, but this stuff could have far-reaching …Tuesday, December 4, 2012
John’s Tumblr: We can do better than lecture videos lilly: What I meant to say about this article about online education: MOOCs are a breakthrough in distribution of educational content, but not really a breakthrough in the way that we learn. What this article points out is that there are more …Tuesday, December 4, 2012
News Corp. Shutters The Daily iPad App - Peter KafkaI know they’re not the same thing, but it’s interesting to watch News Corp. fail with The Daily while Marco Arment’s The Magazine is gaining altitude, despite production by a relative publishing newb and one other staffer. One thing is clear: …