On the darker side It’s just theory and the technology of it is very much over my pretty little head. But Bruce Schneier notes that it’s possible to insert surveillance almost undetectably at the microchip level. More evidence that while the NSA may know what you’re doing, it has no idea what its own people are doing. The ACLU doesn’t come right out and call the FBI America’s secret police. But pretty close. Alas, they still imagine the agency might investigate and reform itself. (Via Sipsey Street) But of course, it’s all just okey-dokey-hunky-dory-nifty-zorch because none of it’s unconstitutional! On…
Category: Computers & Technology
We were all probably hoping and thinking that Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda weren’t behaving stupidly while sending/transporting Snowden documents over international borders. Alas, perhaps they were. Even if you’re in major anti-news mode, you’ve probably heard about or seen Miley Cyrus’ grotesque “twerking” performance a few days back. The ‘Net has been full of tsking about the way “Hannah Montana” turned on her little-girl fans with her crude display of sexuality. But everybody’s missing the point, you see. It’s not that Cyrus’ performance was over-sexualized. It’s that it was racist! Yes. Seriously. Racist. I think this sets…
Pre-order here. This is for a turnkey privacy-enhancing wifi device with TOR built into it, ready to go to work for you, your non-techie family members, and your houseguests. Original post and discussion here. Remember that no single device or app can guarantee complete security under all circumstances. For instance, you don’t want to be using TOR (which this device provides) while inputting personally identifiable information. However, for your private surfing needs, this may be as easy as basic protection gets. Its maker, Scott, will be around to answer questions.
* Want the privacy advantages of TOR, but don’t want to install TOR on your computer? * Want the privacy advantages of TOR, but can’t install it on your computer or mobile device? * Want your friends, family, and guests to be able to easily anonymize — even if they aren’t geeks? * Want anonymity you can take wherever you go? That’s what Onion Pi is for. Sez its creator: Using it is easy-as-pie. First, plug the Ethernet cable into any Internet provider in your home, work, hotel or conference/event. Next, power up the Pi with the micro USB cable…
Yesterday I installed the Firefox (and Chrome) extension, HTTPS Everywhere. This free add-on from the Electronic Frontier Foundation automatically forces a secure HTTPS connection in place of a regular HTTP connection, when HTTPS is available. Just now I belatedly downloaded the TOR Browser Bundle. Been meaning to do that for a long time. Although they each got to work quickly and without fuss, in both cases, I found myself plunged into a world of geekery and confusion. (Do you want to “use the SSL Observatory?” Shall we “check certificates even if TOR isn’t available?” No installation needed; just extract! “……
Well, look at that. Here all these years you thought Microsoft products were just buggy. But where the NSA and MS are concerned, those aren’t bugs; they’re features. (H/T H) New: Prism-Break.org. Products to use instead of the Usual Suspects.* One of those is StartPage, of course. And while you’re in the position of having to take their word for it, this is a pretty good statement of principle. Why skipping college could be a good idea. And UnCollege.org. Jim Bovard (that is, Mr. Bovard, according to the WSJ bio; have I been too informal all these years?) on the…
Well, isn’t that cozy? A top Obama donor is the founder and CEO of a company that will soon control about one half of all medical data on Americans. She’s 85. Just graduated from college. And already has herself a job. Ray Manzarek is dead. Jim Morrison might have gotten most of the press, but Manzarek was the real genius behind the haunting sound of The Doors. “Some of my best friends are germs.” Long, but fascinating. Maybe a leisurely weekend read.(H/T S) You see the wonderful thing about equality for women? We get equal opportunities for political corruption —…
Back in the 1990s, the Clinton administration tried to snuff out PGP using the very same obscure regulation it’s wielding against Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed now. Yes, PGP was (and IIRC, still is) a “munition.” The regs didn’t change; the fedgov just knew that was a battle it was going to lose so it backed off. Encryption is everywhere and Phil Zimmerman is a free man. But nothing’s new under the sun reeking pall of Mordor. Now a new generation of regulators — and a new anti-gun president who has vowed to take covert action against firearms if he…
… which all have to do with science, science fiction, medicine, or technology today … “Open up and say ‘neigh’” — how horses can help teach young doctors to have a better bedside manner. (Tip o’ hat to ML.) I thought he’d died decades ago. No, but that was his compatriot Janos Prohaska. Farewell, Ray Harryhausen, FX pioneer. I’ll bet the words “dog” and “cat” were among those our prehistoric ancestors bequeathed us. … Those ancestors now under the sea? So, is the movie of Ender’s Game going to be good? The trailer has possibilities. But I was never a…
When people entrust everything to the cloud. But hey, Google is a big company, right? Practically like a government. So nothing could ever go wrong. And when it does, of course they’ll be just eager as little beavers to help one of their 343 million very important customers. —– Working on one of those blog posts that takes a lot of thinking about. So please pardon the apparent lack of productivity.