My son was hit by a pickup truck a couple of weeks ago, crossing the street when coming home from a school ‘enrichment’ program. He is doing fine – thanks for asking – but it has raised many questions in our area, and it has prompted a look at how we deal with school zones [...]
Tag Archives: Security and Privacy
Washington DC Police Chief Issues Reasonable Citizen Cell-Camera Guidelines
If you keep an eye on the news, you probably have heard that the ubiquity of smartphones with capable video cameras in recent years has drastically changed how we view many things. Go to a concert and you will see hundreds (if not thousands) of people videotaping the proceedings; no longer are the aisles at [...]
Full Body Scans, the TSA and the Law: The Legal Maneuvers Continue
I used to travel a lot — basically once a week. I had a job in California, but my family lives in Austin. (it was 2008–I took whatever I could find.) So I spent a lot of time in airports, eating, pulling luggage, searching for power outlets, unlacing and relacing my shoes, and getting scanned. [...]
Should eBooks and Privacy Be a Concern for Us?
Here’s another reason for eBook haters to complain about the digitization of the written word — your reading habits are no longer secret. While it is not surprising to assume Amazon, B&N and Kobo are watching what you read, the Wall Street Journal has a very detailed account of just how much is being watched. [...]
The FBI Serves Warrants Through Email Now?
Well, of course not. So if you get an email with the return address of FBI OFFICE, and the ALL CAPS subject line reading “WE THE FBI HAVE WARRANT TO ARREST YOU GET BACK TO US FOR YOUR OWN GOOD”, please hit delete. Don’t forward it to a relative or friend asking if they think [...]
Protect Your Gear with iSafeBags Urban Crew Backpacks
Have you ever had something valuable stolen out of a laptop case or backpack? Most people have. Whether it was an ipod, cell phone, or wallet, this type of thing tends to happen to everyone – especially in urban environments and public areas. Fewer people, I’d imagine, would consider arming their backpack with a full-fledged [...]
Stem Innovation iZON Remote Room Monitor Review
Two years ago we installed a wireless security system in our home as part of a review. (Read it here.) One element of the system is a remote camera that lets you keep an eye on one part of your home when you are away. But what if you want to have a remote camera [...]
Unintended Consequences of ‘Play’-ing Around!
Early this week I saw link to a couple of new music making apps for Android and wanted to check them out, so I clicked and … BLOCKED! That is right – suddenly I couldn’t access Google Play. I went ahead and asked one of our local IT folks and he said that in general [...]
Is This the End of Privacy?
Image courtesy Ilini News Privacy on the Internet is a very slippery idea. We share information voluntarily, through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media. Information gets shared involuntarily through hacking, or by companies tracking our purchases and browsing habits to glean clues about how to make us their ideal customer. But Slate has an [...]
AppSense Puts Your Dropbox Files on Lock Down with Free DataLocker Suite
Image courtesy of AppSense Security is pretty much on everyone’s radar these days. With online file services standing up left and right people find themselves syncing their data all over the “cloud” allowing cross-platform anytime access to almost everything. For the most part things are pretty secure, but as we’ve seen in the past [...]
Personal Privacy: Is It an Archaic Concept?
Image courtesy of The Punch In 1990, science fiction writer David Brin released “Earth”, a book that was set 50 years in the (then) future, or about 2038. It extrapolated a number of things–increased UV and higher coastlines due to global warming, for example (Houston is inundated with water like Venice!). One of the key [...]
Google Says ‘We Do What We Must Because We Can’
The title is a Portal reference … if you haven’t played, you should. I’ll provide a video at the end for context. The basic theme is that Aperture Science (Google) does what it ‘must’ (cruel human experimentation in the name of science) because it ‘can’ (no one can stop them). But also realize that it [...]
Apparently Password Sharing is ‘a Thing’ with Teens!
Things like split heart necklaces for shared love used to be common, or swapping high school or college rings, or a shirt or other things. Apparently the new sign of trust, love and commitment is … sharing online passwords. According to the New York Times article: The digital era has given rise to a more [...]
At Least NOW We Know Who the TRUE Enemies of Freedom Are!
Image courtesy WTOP We interrupt my seemingly weekly rant on our ever-encroaching police state to remind you that there are plenty of normal everyday people lurking around looking to circumscribe public discourse and force their bizarre conspiratorial views on others. Those people live on this crazy place called ‘Facebook’ … and here is the latest [...]
Mobile Edge Has Got Your Back If You Are Worried About Privacy
Are you feeling a bit spooked by all the recent stories about how our mobile phones are transmitting our GPS data, who we are talking to, and other possibly sensitive information? Here is one solution that might help: buy a bag that has a wireless security shield. What that means is that when your phone [...]
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Alan T.: My dad likes to show off cool tech gadgets and thi...
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