Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Interview with fugitive hacker Christopher Doyon. "Right now we have access to every classified database in the US government. The access was given to us by the people who run the systems. The pimply-faced kid in the basement"
Hackers collective Anonymous and the US State Department don't have much in common but they do both proclaim their support for Internet freedom. "Ironically, both may end up hurting the very noble cause that they seek to promote"
"Military service is mandatory for all Turkish men – they can escape it only if they are ill, disabled or homosexual. But proving homosexuality is a humiliating ordeal." Young, gay Turks explain what it took to gain exemption
Fundamentals have changed. Google's model no longer to maximise market share. That's done. Now comes time for monetising captive audience by whatever means available. Google's core product is no longer search. It's Google
In 2003, the US Supreme Court decided the case of Lawrence v Texas, ruling that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional. But what was the story behind the case, and what if the facts weren't at all as presented?
"The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads." 105 companies (at least) are tracking your browsing habits for money. It's why most web sites can seem free. You should probably know about it
Remember the case of the Rutgers student, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after his roommate allegedly filmed him having gay sex and broadcast it online? This monumental reconstruction suggests it wasn't that straightforward
Remember him? He's still under UK house arrest, a year after rape allegations. Some think him "a sexual deviant with bad personal hygiene", others an "embattled rebel commander". Either way, he's "isolated, broke and vulnerable"
Fine essay addresses the "going dark" problem, when law enforcement is blinded by new forms of encrypted communication. Whilst an issue, this misses the point. We actually live in a "golden age of surveillance". Here's why
Biting commentary on Britain's surveillance society. Now so bad that councils want to film and record all conversations in taxis. This isn't about diminishing evil, it's about a desire to control. And we must resist it
Can the authorities put a GPS tracker device on your car without a warrant? How different, if at all, is it from police surveillance in public places? Account of a fun and interesting discussion at the US Supreme Court
Not our choice of headline. And probably not Evgeny's either. But still, an interesting review-essay about why the government can't wiretap online communications the way it can wiretap phones. The traffic just goes somewhere else
