Security Theater
Nothing captures the public’s attention like a named killer. Jack the Ripper. The Boston Strangler. Son of Sam. Zodiac. The Night Stalker. The Green River Killer. Last month, a new name was...
View ArticleRecycling
If you’re anything like me, you probably have a couple of old, unused computers lying around your house gathering dust. In my house, we had six computers until recently, two very old desktops, two...
View ArticleTravesty of Justice
The Supreme Court yesterday ruled in a case from Alaska that the state does not have to provide physical evidence (which the state still has) to a man who has been in prison for 16 years for the...
View ArticleNew Kindle Developments
I was talking to my dad tonight about the Kindle. He’s a fan and wants one, but feels as though he doesn’t read enough to justify the expense. I’ve written about the Kindle before and have said that...
View ArticleEunice Kennedy Shriver and Radical Medical Technology
Unless you have been on an island somewhere lately, you probably know that Eunice Kennedy Shriver has been hospitalized for the past few days and died this morning at age 88. The achievement she is...
View ArticleSecurity Theater Revisited
I’ve written about the theater of airport security before. Now here is an excellent piece written by an ex-cop about why airport screening fails to keep us safe and is really all about the illusion of...
View ArticleEven More Security Theater
By now, you’ve probably heard about the thwarted terror attack on a flight bound for Detroit. If you haven’t heard details, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to light his underwear on fire to set...
View ArticleGoogle in China
Google has received lots of criticism from human rights activists since it started to do business in China in 2006. The criticism is focused on Google’s willingness to comply with Chinese official...
View ArticlePattern Recognition and Pseudo-Security
One of my favorite shows on NPR is On The Media. Each week, the hosts examine a variety of topics related to the media, mostly in the US. I hear the show on Sunday mornings on New Hampshire Public...
View ArticleToyota Software
Toyota has been much in the news lately because of questions about the performance of a variety of their cars. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’ve owned four cars in my...
View ArticleFacebook Places
Here’s the status update of one of my friends on Facebook today (August 29): “IMPORTANT!!! Facebook launched Facebook Places yesterday. Anyone can find out where you are when you are logged in. It...
View ArticleNew Definition of “Friend”
One of the ways that I first knew that Facebook was having a major impact on our society was that I heard my friends in the real world, many of whom are English professors, using the word “friend” as a...
View ArticleGoogle and Privacy
A story about Google and privacy on NPR last week caught my attention because it seemed so strange. And now that I know what the real story is, it still seems really strange to me. Google Map’s Street...
View ArticlePopular Culture and TIA
I just finished watching the five episodes of the BBC miniseries The Last Enemy. Ann had recommended it because it is about computers and privacy and also because Benedict Cumberbatch (of recent...
View ArticleFacebook Security
Robin pointed out an article about Facebook security today that made me think about some things that everyone who browses the web should know about but which the article unfortunately neglects to...
View ArticlePlay, Standardized Testing and Wall Street
A student from my Creating Games class came to my office today to talk about the keynote speech from a conference he had recently attended. The speaker was lamenting the fact that kindergarten has...
View ArticleThe Problem with Educational Technology
I don’t think anyone would accuse me of being a Luddite. I began to learn to program in the late 1970′s when I was in high school, majored in computer science, worked as a software developer and got a...
View ArticleMagical Thinking
You probably haven’t noticed that I’ve been away for awhile. But I have. In fact, this is my first post of 2012. I have no excuse other than to say that being the chair of an academic department is a...
View ArticleHealth Care, RFIDs and Politics
Quite a lot of people hate “Obamacare” which is otherwise known as the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act. And there are indeed things to hate about the law. For example, I am a proponent of single...
View ArticleApple vs. The FBI
I’ve been reading a lot about the controversy surrounding the court order compelling Apple to help the FBI break into the phone used by one of the San Bernardino killers, Sayed Farook. I think at this...
View Article
