Author Archive
What is your phone and your internet connection blabbing about you?
Early in the second part of PBS’s (highly recommended) ‘United States of Secrets‘ documentaries, The Guardian‘s reporter Ewan Macaskill recalled Edward Snowden’s reaction in his Hong Kong hotel to a simple question: Do you mind if I record our interview on my iPhone?: Ewan Macaskill — excerpt from PBS ‘United States of Secrets’ part 2 MP3 […]
RIP Rik Mayall
A sad farewell to a comedic genius. Rik Mayall has died unexpectedly at 56. His fans will celebrate the groundbreaking The Young Ones and remember with relish his scene-stealing and virile Lord Flashheart (woof!) in Blackadder — as I do — and these were great. But for me, I will always remember his Alan B’Stard, beautifully […]
Daniel Ellsberg on why Snowden couldn’t get a fair trial
Worth reading. Daniel Ellsberg: Snowden would not get a fair trial – and Kerry is wrong As I know from my own case, even Snowden’s own testimony on the stand would be gagged by government objections and the (arguably unconstitutional) nature of his charges. That was my own experience in court, as the first American […]
The movie ‘Maleficent’ — well worth your time
I saw this with my family last night. It’s very good. The script contains some great twists on a story you think you already know. A striking, powerful performance by Angelina Jolie. I recommend it. – P Update: Here’s The Guardian’s (very positive) review.
Snowden on intelligence agencies ‘owning’ your smartphone
Here’s a clip from the Brian Williams/NBC interview with Edward Snowden on the vulnerability of smartphones to intelligence agencies … (as we discussed in Oh. The NSA ‘owns’ iPhones (but only if it can get its hands on them, for now). It’s worse than I thought. excerpt: Edward Snowden talks to NBC’s Brian Williams re […]
About that Blackshades RAT computer malware thing in the news …
Here’s a line that recent news reports about this worldwide malware infestation might usefully have mentioned more prominently … Blackshades malware affects Microsoft Windows-based operating systems. But I guess they got hung up on the Shock! Horror! ‘Miss Teen USA nude photos’ angle, huh? Click to read the FBI bulletin here. – P
Andrea Vance on protecting your communications
Reporter of the Year Andrea Vance talked to Radio New Zealand’s Colin Peacock on Mediawatch about government surveillance of news media in an illuminating interview broadcast last Sunday. [Coincidentally, Vance was part of TV3’s The Nation political panel the day before.] Listening to the Mediawatch interview, one can’t help but be struck by the loss […]
A useful video about iPhone photography apps
Courtesy of The Guardian via John Gruber (again!) Update: Here’s a list of the apps in the video and extras, plus, in comments, some Android alternatives.
Talk about image and editing power in your pocket!
Watch this short video ad for Bentley Motors, and watch the ‘making of’ feature at the end (starts 3’15”). Wow. Yeah, sure they use a bunch of accessories, but look at the quality of the images. – P via John Gruber @daringfireball
Do opinion polls about whether climate change ‘exists’ matter a jot?
Maybe the question: What should we do about it? is the one worth asking. And answering. – P
Sarah Harrison of Wikileaks
This is an eye-opening discussion re security/surveillance and the problematic tensions and self-censoring of media organizations over redactions. Sarah Harrison (in conversation with Alexa O’Brien) on Wikileaks’ evolving ‘archive’ and ‘history’ mission versus carefully filtered redacted documents — “media organizations working with governments is corrupting”. See what she says about US State Department trying to […]
Rotating through the (political, really) excuses for climate change scepticism (denial, really)
Quite a nice post at the Skeptical Science website about The Quantum Theory of Climate Denial Similar nonsensical behaviour [to framing Schrödinger’s cat as ‘simultaneously’ alive and dead] happens with people who deny the scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming. There are various states of climate denial, with some states contradicting others. For […]
Maurice Williamson. ‘Blood on the floor’ … and now maybe in the water?
Nobody’s perfect. Personally, I think Maurice Williamson is a saint with the patience of Job. I’ve seen him sit through two Scholars’ Assemblies at my daughter’s college and not fall asleep or disgrace himself by unfortunate scratching or leering at teenage lasses. When I think about how he’s been the local MP for 27 years, […]
