New York Times

Russian Ships Too Close to Data Cables for U.S. Comfort

Russian Ships Too Close to Data Cables for U.S. Comfort The first of two this-is-really-concerning posts you’ll find here today: The role of the cables is more important than ever before. They carry global business worth more than $10 trillion a day, including from financial institutions that …

When a Company Is Put Up for Sale, in Many Cases, Your Personal Data Is, Too

When a Company Is Put Up for Sale, in Many Cases, Your Personal Data Is, Too I have written about this before, but it’s worth reminding you. These days many companies offer an official privacy policy and an easier-to-read but not so official abridged version. Sometimes the two do not agree: …

States cite lack of federal progress in pursuit of privacy reform

States cite lack of federal progress in pursuit of privacy reformSpecial interest groups oppose federal privacy reform to prevent onerous new regulations. But this effort must, at some point, become counterproductive. A multitude of state-specific privacy frameworks that, by (federal) law, can’t …

NYT managing editor: Guardian story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not 'Surprising' Enough to Cover

NYT managing editor: Guardian story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not ‘Surprising’ Enough to CoverNew York Times news editor Dean Baquet suffered a serious lapse in editorial judgment. I mean, he can’t be serious, can he?

Daniel Victor of the New York Times shows us how to be a reporter even on Twitter

Daniel Victor of the New York Times shows us how to be a reporter even on TwitterThis is a great story precisely because Victor wasn’t writing a blog post about how to properly commit journalism on Twitter, he was properly committing journalism on Twitter.

The pressing need for hospital pricing regulation

The pressing need for hospital pricing regulationThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published data on what hospitals charge for the most common procedures. There is much to look at, and other have done good reporting on it, notably Sarah Kliff and Dan Keating at the Washington Post …

Obama May Back F.B.I. Plan to Wiretap Web Users

Obama May Back F.B.I. Plan to Wiretap Web UsersCharlie Savage of The New York Times: the new proposal focuses on strengthening wiretap orders issued by judges. Currently, such orders instruct recipients to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies, leaving wiggle room for companies …

Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the Crime

Taping of Farm Cruelty Is Becoming the CrimeRichard A. Oppel Jr. reports at the New York Times: But a dozen or so state legislatures have had a different reaction: They proposed or enacted bills that would make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms, or apply for a job at one without …

Twitter Arrives on Wall Street, Via Bloomberg

Twitter Arrives on Wall Street, Via BloombergInteresting news, but someone call the design police: there’s a crime being committed at every Bloomberg terminal on Wall Street. It’s 2013 and it looks like financial professionals are daily being punished with truly awful interface design. Don’t believe …

Streaming music: good for fans, bad for musicians

Streaming music: good for fans, bad for musiciansThe numbers are pretty stark, and while it doesn’t hurt to be available on streaming services, if for nothing else than the opportunity to be found by new listeners, unknown artists are better off leveraging social media and sites like Bandcamp to …

Antigua responds to US gambling ban with government-backed infringement plan

Antigua responds to US gambling ban with government-backed infringement planThe Carribean nation Antigua and Barbuda and the World Trade Organization say a US ban on online gambling is costing jobs and “billions of dollars.” The WTO has approved a plan to allow infringement of US-based copyright …

Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner

Confessions of a Liberal Gun OwnerNovelist Justin Cronin presents a very well-written and reasonable take on why knee-jerk reactions on either side of the gun debate are misinformed and unrealistic: […] in the weeks since Newtown, I’ve watched my Facebook feed, which is dominated by my coastal …

NLRB refines position on employee social media and workplace criticism

NLRB refines position on employee social media and workplace criticismMy personal policy is to refrain from discussing work on social media. In all my years of Twitter-ing and Facebook-ing, I’ve posted only a very few work-related updates, invariably focused on interpersonal minutiae like elevator …

US suspects Iran behind DDoS attacks on banks

US suspects Iran behind DDoS attacks on banksThese look a lot like “feeler” operations, meant to gauge the reaction attackers can expect from victim institutions and nations. The United States (read: Congress) must act immediately to ensure that we’re ready when attackers stop slowing down or …

Sign Language Researchers Broaden Science Lexicon

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)

NYPD subpoenas call logs of stolen cell phones

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 …

"Gay conversion" snake-oil salesmen taken to court

“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 …

H.P. Takes Huge Charge on 'Accounting Improprieties' at Autonomy

H.P. Takes Huge Charge on ‘Accounting Improprieties’ at AutonomyMichael J. de la Merced and Quentin Hardy, for the Times’ DealBook: The charge essentially wiped out its profit. The headline should say “outright misrepresentations,” not “accounting improprieties,” because the former is …

SoftBank buys 70% stake in Sprint

SoftBank buys 70% stake in Sprint Michael J. De La Merced and Neil Gough, in The New York Times: In a statement on Monday, SoftBank, a big Japanese telecommunications company, said it would pay $8 billion to buy newly issued Sprint stock worth about $5.25 a share. It will then pay $12.1 billion to …

NYT quote approval policy is (only) a good start

The new quote approval policy at The New York Times, as quoted by Times opinion writer Margaret Sullivan: So starting now, we want to draw a clear line on this. Citing Times policy, reporters should say no if a source demands, as a condition of an interview, that quotes be submitted afterward to …

David Carr on quotation approval

David Carr on quotation approval Keep in mind that when public figures get in trouble for something they said, it is usually not because they misspoke, but because they accidentally told the truth. News junkies probably know this already, but it’s worth letting the Times's David Carr remind us that …

Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82

Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82Neil Armstrong on Chuck Yeager’s breaking the sound barrier, quoted by his own biographer: All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in history that had brought me along one …