Pretty reasoned analysis by the developers at Panic of Apple’s new GateKeeper feature. Like many of the commenters I’m not convinced. It’s clear to me that Apple will revoke the ability to install non app-store apps as soon as it makes financial sense for them. No other considerations need apply. From the post: “Although security is a vital feature for Apple, developers, and users alike, being unable to run unsigned code cuts a lot of really great things off at the knees.
It is not surprising to me that Google, Facebook and others have been tracking users even when they’ve configured the Do Not Track feature of their browsers. I’ve long considered sites such as Facebook and Google to be malware sites. The best course of action when dealing with these sites is to use them in a separate browser, and to disable cookies in the browser that you use for everything else.
In order to justify the crippling of its Unlimited data plans, AT&T executive John Donovan has taken to denigrating advanced users for making use of the bandwidth their contract provides them, calling them a burden on their beleaguered and weary network. This blatantly contradicts the massive surplus of network availability across the United States and much of the rest of the world. This action is taken to increase profit margins that are already in excess of 100,000% in some cases and to evoke sympathy from a non-technical public by painting a picture of a company striving to invest in an infrastructure that can barely keep up.
Free software will always prove more trustworthy than that handed out by proprietary vendors simply by virtue of the democratic nature of its development. The more I make use of smartphones the less I trust them overall. http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/02/15/0036242/unauthorized-ios-apps-leak-private-data-less-than-approved-ones
“Internal e-mails from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police show they could find “no good examples” to support their demand for greater access to private Internet communications.” http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/02/14/vic-toews-draws-line-on-lawful-access-youre-with-us-or-the-child-pornographers/
From the article: ‘Entitled “an Act to enact the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and others Acts,” the law would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to install equipment that would allow them to monitor and preserve the Internet surfing activities of their customers.’ http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/politics/Ottawa+Bill+allows+police+more+easily+view+your+surfing+What+think/6139149/story.html
I’m loathe to pay for music (though not television programming or movies) because I know I’m not rewarding the artist. Artists for a century or more have become victims of flim flam men selling them predatory deals which usually impoverish them in the long run unless they’re among a tiny minority of superstars. I’d love to simply pay the artist directly, and would probably pay more than the stated worth of the work as a tip and gesture of appreciation.
What the article fails to mention is that these computers are often equipped with malicious proprietary software, some of which is documented as having been used by an education system to photograph students while they used them in their private homes, even in various states of undress. “It’s great to suggest that every student should be equipped with a laptop or given 24/7 access to Wi-Fi, but shouldn’t our federal bureaucrats figure out how to stem the tidal wave of layoffs in the teaching ranks and unrelenting cutbacks in school programs and maintenance budgets first?
As censorship spreads, it’s important to note that corporations are composed of human beings who really ought to care about what they’re doing to their neighbors. Bowing to repressive regimes helps no one. “Google said last month it was directing users to localized country domains on Blogger to provide it flexibility to comply with content removal rules in various countries. Twitter also decided last month to withhold certain content from users in a specific country, when required by local laws, while keeping it available to the rest of the world.
Complacency is among the worst things a citizen of any democracy can be guilty of. This is an important lesson. “I signed ACTA out of civic carelessness, because I did not pay enough attention. Quite simply, I did not clearly connect the agreement I had been instructed to sign with the agreement that, according to my own civic conviction, limits and withholds the freedom of engagement on the largest and most significant network in human history, and thus limits particularly the future of our children.
