• PRIVACY DEPT.

    An Awkward Moment in the Apple Encryption Debate

    So a couple of days ago I was explaining why Orin Kerr was wrong about Apple’s new policy of rendering themselves unable to encrypt customers’ iPhones, and in passing I linked with some disdain to a piece by former FBI Assistant Director Ronald T. Hosko, who was claiming, of course, that the new policy would… Read more

  • WEATHER DEPT.

    The People’s Climate Change

    I’ve been trying to explain to my science-oriented friends who complain about climate change denial that a lot of people who have doubts about global warming are not so much anti-science as they are suspicious of scientific claims coming from people with an ideological agenda. Imagine for a moment that your least favorite right-wing pundits… Read more

  • PRIVACY DEPT.

    Orin Kerr’s Dangerous Thinking

    Apple has announced that with the new iOS 8 release they are no longer able to comply with law enforcement warrants to decrypt the contents of iPhones and iPads. On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of… Read more

  • SCATTERSHOT DEPT.

    Scattershot: Dating, Cops Behaving Badly, NSA, and Some Lucky People

    Random shots around the web: Alli Reed posts the worst dating profile ever on OkCupid and proves, as you might suspect, that horny men will hit anything. Stephen Foster thinks it should be illegal to take pictures of people if you plan to have dirty thoughts about them later, or something. Rob Hustle explains what… Read more

  • COMMENTARY DEPT.

    Step Back From the Line of Fire, Batman

    Like, I think, most people, I first heard Junip’s mesmerizing song “Line of Fire” in the promo for the final episode of Breaking Bad: Sometime afterward, I decided to check YouTube to see if there was an official video for the song. I found it here, but along the way I also found something far… Read more