This is both fun and educational: How Secure is My Password? Just in case, I suggest you not enter any real passwords, but something entirely different that just has the same general mix of numbers, letters, and symbols as any password you might use. And of course, how long it takes a PC to crack your password and how long it takes some creepazoid with the full power of government behind him are two very different things. Why we should all watch Groundhog Day. (Contains spoilers; but then, is there anybody who hasn’t already seen or doesn’t already know how…
Category: Computers & Technology
In light of the latest in the endless series of revelations about Internet Explorer bugs and vulnerabilities, I bring you … And now, being gunfolk and technoids (as so many of you are), you can all go off to the comment section and beat each other about the head and shoulders over which firearm should actually represent which browser. But nobody will disagree on the one that best depicts IE, right?
So … some uninsured Californians get covered under Obamacare. Whoopee. Months later they’re desperately banging on the doors of free clinics for the uninsured because they can’t get doctors to see them. (How many of us kept shouting, “It’s not about ‘coverage.’ It’s about access to actual care!”) Wanna see the impact of state sales taxes on business? Check out Amazon’s numbers. (Well, that may help explain why after a strong start to the year, my personal Amazon links are producing spit and bubble gum this month.) Could low blood sugar be wrecking your marriage? So this is what the…
You tell me. I know that the right software and the right settings are key to electronic privacy on computers. But are there some computers (laptops, especially) that are inherently more private and secure due to their hardware? I always buys used Lenovo laptops. They (and their predecessors from IBM) are the sturdiest beasties in the computer world. Mine have been knocked off tables by rambunctious dogs (or by me) dozens of times, and while various plastic bits may have cracked or broken off, the workings inside their titanium cases have just gone right on ticking. Unfortunately the other day…
Beaded guns. Yes, very, very weird. Cops in Hawaii assert that they really, really, really need that law that allows them, and only them, to have sex with prostitutes. So what exactly did Erdogan think would happen when he tried to ban Twitter? Didn’t somebody say something about “can’t stop the signal”? I see the point. Larry Page would rather leave his billions to Elon Musk than to charity. Dog names (per jed in comments). Belladonna Squishypup. Definitely beats Maggie. Or Max. Okay, now I’ve gotten some fabulous deals at garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, rummage sales, or jumble…
Man now living in the house of the lawyer who ripped him off. Sweet revenge. Boeing makes smart phones??? Who knew? Apparently this one self-destructs if tampered with. I’m not a sports person and I never heard of Dean Smith. But this is a touching tribute for a good man. Do seven people really control the security of the Internet? (H/T JB) Antimatter beams. Ho hum. So commonplace. (H/T JB) The most expensive eviction in NYC history. It involved the Mayflower Hotel, a cranky old hermit, and a room with a view. Quite a tale.
So you still don’t think Google Glass is creepy? Well how ’bout when New York City cops are testing it? (H/T MJR) “The repentant informant.” This article on liberty’s former friend Stacy Litz was published last year. The reporter (whose name really, truly is Jason Nark) interviewed me but forgot to tell me when the story hit, which is why I’m late with the news. I’m not quoted, but he does reference the booklet the Commentariat collaborated on: Rats! So pat yourselves on the back. You’re famous. 🙂 Cops do the usual no-knock dawn raid. On the usual word of…
Ten reasons to quit working so hard. Does the new CBO report put the final nail in the Obamacare coffin? That might be a tad optimistic. But the report just ain’t pretty, no matter how Big O’s flappers try to spin it. MWD, who sent this development thinks it’s a world-altering change. Welllll … In any case, it’s a hopeful sign for privacy. “I am sending a bag of these to every member of Congress to show my deepest gratitude.” (Hilariously scatological reviews from Amazon customers on a product that may just be slightly defective. Courtesy of MamaLiberty.) Also from…
A few days ago, a friend sent me this article: “You don’t want your privacy: Disney and the meat-space data race.”
It’s by “data scientist” John Foreman (I put that in quotes only because I’m not sure what all “data science” might encompass), who says a) that the most egregious electronic privacy violations will be in our off-line lives and b) We’re going to cooperate happily and fully. Not going to cooperate. But are cooperating. Privacy — right now! — is as “over” as bustles and moustache wax.
Although Foreman recognizes the creepiness of omni-tracking, he embraces it with cheer — heading off to Disney World with his family, every member sporting an RFID bracelet that will know everywhere they’ve been, everything they’ve bought, every food item they’ve ordered — and even how long they’ll spend on one of Mickey’s toilets if something they ate gives them diarrhea.
My friend said he just couldn’t wait for the great blog I’d make of this. And he asked me to send his regards to Katherine Albrecht. A few years ago when Katherine and her associate Liz McIntyre wrote their book Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID, my friend scoffed at their predictions.
Now? Not so much scoffing going on.
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I’m going to have to disappoint my friend, though. He was probably expecting a rant so passionate it would set BHM’s pixels on fire or maybe a tutorial on RFID hacking or RFID safety.
Nope.
So, do you think Phil Zimmerman’s Blackphone will become the smartphone of smart people? Or …? It could become a crime in Washington state to help the NSA. Government contractors or workers providing electricity or water to an agency violating the Fourth Amendment would be criminals. (They ought to do this in Utah, where that hellish data center gobbles millions of gallons of precious dry-state water.) H/T PT Another of the many ways in which Obamacare is helping. Clever or creepy? Yeah, depends on who (or which alphabet soupers) get their hands on these snake, worm, and otherwise creepy-crawly robots.…