Category Archives: News

Article note: I can't believe people do BYOD employer-managed phones. I understand cost and only-carrying-one-device aspects, but unless there are really, really good privilege separations between the personal and managed, that's insane. Users and work profiles on Android make things a _little_ less absurd, but the general wisdom seems like it should be "If you want me to carry a leash, you can pay for it."

Article note: Of course.

Article note: Taking VC with the assumption of infinite, unsustainable growth kills all things that do a good job filling a niche.

Article note: That is some creepy fuckin' shit we are acclimatizing students to for dubious benefit. It seems like something ripe for civil disobedience DDOS campaigns...

Article note: The drumbeat of semiconductor consolidation continues. I know people at Cypress and UK has a bunch of relationships with the local office, so this one is closer than usual.

Article note: Article suggests "There is no pony in your pile of shit," please stop surveilling and storing. Stop using the "value" to justify and enable surveillance. Also, die.

Article note: This is an excellent "I was wrong" piece about data collection vs. privacy protection. I'd like it if the stance were a little more "Because the collected data will not be used to optimize for things that benefit anyone other than parasites."

Article note: Feeling good that I already switched [back] to Firefox. Chrom[e|ium] has a slightly more capable engine, but the inability to run extensions on mobile, chatter about reducing content blocking extension power on desktop, and IE-in-the-early-2000s idiosyncratic behavior and market penetration have made its trajectory as a coercive problem clear.

Article note: Those are attractive parts. I'm surprised and slightly disappointed there isn't an integrated graphics part announced in the initial lineup, but the mid-range parts (especially the 3700X) are very appealing.

Article note: Assange is a shitweasel, as people who discover their unjust victimization in one aspect allows them to get away with all kinds of bad behavior tend to be, but this shit sticking would be _real bad_ for the free press.

Enlarge / Supporters of Julian Assange protest outside the Ecuadorian embassy as the WikiLeaks founder awaits a High Court hearing to determine whether he will be extradited to Sweden on sexual charges. Now, new US charges have been added to a previous indictment: 17 counts of espionage. (credit: Amer Ghazzal / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Today, the Department of Justice filed a new indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia—adding 17 more charges atop the original hacking charge used to file for Assange's extradition from the United Kingdom. The new charges are all espionage-focused: conspiracy to receive, obtaining, and disclosure of "national defense information. Each of the 17 counts carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years.

In a statement announcing the filing, a Justice Department spokesperson said, "The superseding indictment alleges that Assange was complicit with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army, in unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense." The new counts allege, among other things, that Assange conspired with Manning to steal "national defense information," obtained that information from Manning, and "aided and abetted her in obtaining classified information with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation."

In a Twitter post, a WikiLeaks spokesperson wrote, "This is madness. It is the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment."