Author Archive
‘I am Bradley Manning’ video
‘It’s time to stop the war on whistle-blowers.’
Finding safety in a ‘boring’ normal life
I like cartoonist Guy Body whose work the NZ Herald publishes. I bought the original of one of his cartoons which reflected public debate sparked when we published Olly Newland’s book The Day The Bubble Bursts. (You can see it in this post.) Guy perfectly caught the very dangerous ‘group think’ phenomenon which props up […]
Life is a series of ‘LIVE crosses’
As some of you may know, I’ve worked as a radio journalist over many years, and got my ‘skills and training’ (that’s just a wee inside joke) with Radio New Zealand, first covering local news (2ZB), then network news (National Radio, Morning Report and Checkpoint etc) then in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. I’ve also worked […]
Why you should follow @onThePaepae on Twitter
Just a shameless plug. Follow us (@onThePaepae) on Twitter for even more eclectic goodness, like this example … [View the story “Conversation with @onThePaepae and @GCSBIntercepts” on Storify] See? It’s not all doom, gloom, outrage and smashed iPhone pix. – P
Privacy? Can you dig it?
This statement from Apple is no doubt prompted by the worldwide furore over revelations of the NSA’s PRISM surveillance. Read the full statement at Apple: Apple’s Commitment to Customer Privacy but here’s the important part (for me): Apple has always placed a priority on protecting our customers’ personal data, and we don’t collect or maintain […]
Is this what we want? Internet ‘take down’ and indefinite gagging orders?
I didn’t want to be the one who ‘broke the news’ that, as the Herald on Sunday‘s Kathryn Powley put it in her story ‘Blogger told to stop‘: a blogger has been ordered to remove dozens of posts and comments from her website and issued with a restraining order against a lawyer she harassed on-line. […]
Dystopia and unease about the Surveillance State
How topical. New Zealand’s National government is currently pushing through (under urgency) law changes to expand the powers of our state eavesdroppers and spies (including the Government Communications Security Bureau, GCSB). NSA Whistle-blower Edward Snowden this week highlighted the ongoing operation by the US and its allies (including New Zealand, Australia, Britain, Canada, ‘Five eyes’) […]
Adding value
If anything, I underestimated the impact of the iPad when I declared in my January 2010 post iPad? Yeah. OK, probably. Why not? Yes, I’ll probably get one of these. It looks useful, and some of the applications seem like an improvement. Apple does lead the world in industrial design (the ‘cool’ factor), and this […]
Whoa! As a critic, this popped me between the eyes.
“Every time I assume a talented person isn’t painfully aware of the flaws in their work, I am wrong.” That’s a line in the middle of a thoughtful review/first impressions account of the pre-release iPhone/iPad software iOS7 by Frank Chimero. But as someone who is critical, sometimes repeatedly critical, of various people and institutions, his […]
OS X Grumpy Cat
Apple’s just announced new Mac OS X software along with a revamped iOS (7) for iPhone/iPad. Apparently they’re calling it ‘Mavericks’ ending the big cat references (I use OS X ‘Mountain Lion’). Shame they couldn’t make use of this one. (I mean, half the work’s been done for them …) – P
Oh {expletive-deleted}! It’s true. The internet is ‘a TV that watches you.’
Damn. This is what the PRISM whistle blower Ed Snowden told a Washington Post reporter, related here: Code name ‘Verax’: Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks “The internet is on principle a system that you reveal yourself to in order to fully enjoy, which differentiates it from, say, a music […]
Unmissable video of NSA Whistleblower Ed Snowden. Seriously, WATCH THIS.
Here’s Glenn Greenwald’s NSA whistle-blower source. Watch this very impressive, courageous man explain his motives. Must see. Really. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: ‘I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things’ – VIDEO The Guardian Boy! Guts combined with a relentlessly rational laying out of the issues that confront democracy and […]
Presented without comment. Almost.
Spotted this joke on my son’s placemat at McDonald’s in Coastlands last Sunday on my way home from Wellington. I thought it was funny then, but after Peter Dunne’s announcement of his inexplicable actions, well, it just seems kinda wry now: – P
Google denies PRISM direct access or back doors
What the…? Dear Google users— You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers. As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts. First, we have not joined […]
