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Category: Computers & Technology

Midweek links

Published May 10, 2017 11:45 am by Claire
  • This is cool. Amazon is building a fabulous new HQ in downtown Seattle. They’re going to reserve half of one of the new buildings for a homeless shelter for women and families. Rent free, utilities paid.
  • Per jc2k in comments: a superior court judge orders a San Diego DA to return seized assets to a medical marijuana dealer. The DA, Bonnie Dumanis, has been snatching millions from harmless people for a long time. In another sign of change, the phrase “policing for profit” has made it into the MSM.
  • Alas, in a sign of how things are still not changing in the war on drugs, there’s yet another New! More Deadly! illegal drug. You’ll die! from a single dose. Even touching it! is dangerous. (And the drug warriors still don’t grasp that these crazy drugs exist only because of their stupid WoD.)
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    • Friday Freedom Question: Online security

    Published April 14, 2017 5:24 am by Claire

    I get the general impression that most people, even here, do very little to protect their online security. When the subject comes up in links posts, there’s never much comment on it. I’m surprised at the number of readers who write me using Gmail or Yahoo addresses, knowing that all correspondence is scanned for advertising and data mining purposes. Other than people who are already inclined to be nerdy, few people seem to use VPNs, proxy services, or TOR for browsing. A core group of my correspondents encrypt their emails, but most … nope. At most, people may use an…

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    Saturday links

    Published April 8, 2017 11:17 am by Claire
  • You may have heard about the Garadget flap, in which a petulant CEO “bricked” a complaining customer’s app. The key line from this article: “… when a device gets connected to the internet—whether it’s a cellphone, a thermostat, or a tea kettle—it’s no longer yours.”
  • And given the way the ‘Net is going, this might be good news to some of you old hands and privacy buffs: a 1986 BBS is back online.
  • This real-life heist has the makings of a movie. Except that Cary Grant’s dead and Sean Connery’s too old. Maybe one of the Ryans — Reynolds or Gosling — could handle the role of the suave criminal mastermind. Great mystery carried out in a rarified intellectual world.
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    • Midweek links

    Published April 5, 2017 5:54 pm by Claire
  • This year is the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson leading the U.S. into World War I. Jim Bovard notes the long chain of disasters that followed (and is following still). Did the war “make the world safe for democracy”?
  • What’s the best type of generator for you? Portable? Or stand-by type? The Family Handyman discusses the difference to help you choose. OTOH, you could always just convert your lawn mower into a generator. Or your bike. (H/T MJ)
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    • Tuesday links

    Published April 4, 2017 8:58 am by Claire
  • Will Obamacare really require Dominos Pizza franchises to post calorie counts for 34 million potential variations of pizza? Kevin D. Williamson examines the profit-killing absurdities.
  • Yet another court justifies yet another literally unwarranted shooting-by-cop. Hershel Smith turns up the outrage.
  • More on Tim Berners-Lee’s plan to re-create his monster creation, the worldwide web. He wants to return its power to the people.
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