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: …Monday, December 3, 2012
Facebook Makes A Huge Data Grab By Aggressively Promoting Photo SyncJosh Constine at TechCrunch: There no big launch event yesterday because Facebook didn’t need one. In fact, it probably didn’t want one, considering it didn’t even notify bloggers like me as it usually does. This isn’t going to …Friday, November 30, 2012
$85 million round by EvernoteIt’s one of my favorite services, and the first I decided to pay for on a monthly basis. I think Libin, despite his transparent business style and easy-going manner, is genius of the caliber of any CEO at a company ten times Evernote’s size. He built something awesome, …Wednesday, November 28, 2012
NYPD subpoenas call logs of stolen cell phonesJoseph Goldstein, writing for the Times: Mr. Sussmann suggested that the Police Department could limit its subpoenas to phone calls beginning on the hour, not the day, of the theft, and ending as soon as the victim has transferred the number to a new …Wednesday, November 28, 2012
“Gay conversion” snake-oil salesmen taken to courtErik Eckholm, reporting for the New York Times: Referred to Jonah by a rabbi when he was 18, Mr. Levin began attending weekend retreats at $650 each. For a year and a half, he had weekly private sessions with Mr. Downing as well as …Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Apple Maps lead firedRichard Williamson is his name, and shipping a less-than-perfect mapping application on the iPhone 5 was his game, until, as Bloomberg's Adam Satariano reports, Senior Vice President Eddy Cue fired him. As an aside, I really like that Bloomberg lists both the reporter’s and the …Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Philly.com posts NSFW photo, ‘production glitch’ blamedSomeone’s gonna get fired…Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Infrastructure SecurityThis is an interesting move, basically setting up the lemonade stand while all you have is water: it’s on your parents to give you the rest of the ingredients if they want you to do the work. Congress would do well …Tuesday, November 27, 2012
USPTO Director announces January 2013 resignationDavid Kappos thinks software patents are just fine, but I’m interested in what his as-yet unknown successor will have to say on the matter.Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Grover Norquist on proposed update to Electronic Communications Privacy ActTwenty-plus years is a long time, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act is overdue for an update. A summary of the state of things: Unfortunately these digital documents lack long-held privacy safeguards. Email saved …Monday, November 26, 2012
UPDATED: Google Acquires Wi-Fi Provider ICOA for $400 MillionUpdated: This is not true. Angela Moscaritolo of PCMag.com reports: In a statement, Google said it made the acquisition to “further diversify its already impressive portfolio of companies.” The Web giant did not elaborate about its …Monday, November 26, 2012
The Release Windows ArchaismFrédéric Filloux at Monday Note: As for the TV shows such as Homeland and others hits, there is not justification whatsoever to preserve this calendar archaism. They should be made universally available from the day when they are aired on TV, period. Or customers will …Thursday, November 22, 2012
USPTO director defends software patentsDirector of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos, quoted by Timothy B. Lee at Ars Technica: In a system like ours in which innovation is happening faster than people can keep up, it cannot be said that the patent system is broken. Of …Thursday, November 22, 2012
How to Opt out of PayPal’s “Agreement to Arbitrate”It’s worth considering if you’re a PayPal user.