Hamish MacEwan

Won’t Get Fooled Again

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:20:14 +1200

Of course the song has no party-allied political message at all. It is not precisely a song that decries revolution — it suggests that we will indeed fight in the streets — but that revolution, like all action, can have results we cannot predict. Don’t expect to see what you expect to see. Expect nothing and you might gain everything.

Current challenges in the free software ecosystem

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:40:12 +1200

Current challenges in the free software ecosystem:

The use of copyleft licenses has helped all major companies by allowing them to avoid over-investment in product differentiation, Eben said. In support of that point, he noted that the investments made by most producers of proprietary UNIX systems were an expensive mistake. “It was expensive to end the HP-UX business. It cost a lot to get into AIX, and it cost even more to get out.” Such experiences meant that the copyleft-ness of the Linux kernel was welcomed, because it stopped differentiation in ways that were more expensive than they were valuable.

A pleasing lesson if learned by providers of commodity infrastructure. All the sage wisdom about differentiation suggests it is required in all things, it is not.

Winning the work gender battle

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:20:24 +1200

Winning the work gender battle:

Recently, at Columbia University in New York, a young neuroscientist told Annis that anyone who doesn’t understand that gender differences emerge in all the work they do “are like flies stuck in amber”. She loves that metaphor.

Annis is a globetrotter with anecdotes to match. She was just in Copenhagen, working with the Danish minister of gender equality, Manu Sareen. Denmark has been scrupulous about gender equality, yet it lacks “gender intelligence”, Annis says. “Equality often equates with sameness.”

Put it this way: Denmark has had 40 years of gender equality and, still, women make up just 13 per cent of top-level management. Instead, you find women in what she calls “the pink silo or the pink ghetto”, areas like human relations and marketing. Despite legislation, the culture of Danish corporations has remained steadfastly male.

Regulating human nature, don’t you wish.

What's next Google? Dropping SMTP support?

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:40:22 +1200

What's next Google? Dropping SMTP support?:

It is only a natural next step in a process started a while ago. Here is a quick, and probably not exhaustive recap:

Google+ has no open RSS output, hence no PuSH support, no write API, in fact it has absolutely nothing open

Google Reader is scrapped, along with RSS support within Chrome

WebDav for Google Calendar is dropped in favor of their proprietary API

XMPP is dropped, while 3 years ago it was at the core of their Wave efforts

via Jason Ryan

A visit to London's 'Bitcoin squat'

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:20:01 +1200

A visit to London's 'Bitcoin squat':

“Do you live in this squat?” I continue to quiz Amir. “I live in one nearby,” he replies and goes onto explain that a group of activists fighting against the financial system live here including people from Occupy London. “We have a Bitcoin contingent inside working on projects and developing software”, he adds.

I mention that I hadn’t realised how much ideology there was behind Bitcoin’s development, and undoubtedly behind Satoshi’s original idea. My friend warns me that ‘ideology’ may be the wrong word to use for a group of anarchists, to which they might object. At the squat I start to realise these people really seem to be embodying their beliefs by living communally and choosing to use their skills to build arguably one of the most radical technologies out there. They are disrupting money and the very role of governments. “We’re giving tools and financial freedom to everybody”, explains Amir. “Bitcoin really is the free market”, he continues, “It’s not about the abuse of power and monopolies”.

This is the Bitcoin trope that, while non-exclusive, along with the criminal trope, was destined to exist. C’est la vie.

Hefty Boosts when you need them

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:40:17 +1200

Hefty Boosts when you need them:

Score 100MB for just $6, usually $20 at the casual data rate.

Grab 30 NZ minutes for just $6, usually over $14 at the standard calling rate.

“Hefty,” Yeah, right.

But, slow steps to the automated pay-as you go future of cellular. $19/month pre-pay with “boosts.” Eventually buy bytes like bananas, from competitive suppliers…

Service providers' view of the TICS Bill jackboot

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:20:08 +1200

Service providers' view of the TICS Bill jackboot:

Here we go again. The Government’s penchant for novel laws is again taking an axe to the Internet in New Zealand. This time its legislative gun is trained on lawful interception and network security. Unfortunately, that gun isn’t going to be firing a silver bullet but wildly spraying grief for New Zealanders. Even the gung ho Americans are taking the time to talk, think through the complex issues, and refine their approach.

Confirmation that “Oh no, not again.” is not a unique response to this piece of work.

Edible insects

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:40:45 +1200

Edible insects:

1. Introduction

Why eat insects?
Why FAO?

2. The role of insects

Beneficial roles of insects for nature and humans
Entomophagy around the world
Examples of important insect species consumed
Important insect products

Illegal aliens head back home as they find economy in Mexico better than in the US

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:20:24 +1200

Illegal aliens head back home as they find economy in Mexico better than in the US:

The largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States has come to a standstill. After four decades that brought 12 million current immigrants —more than half of whom came illegally—the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped—and may have reversed, according to a new analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center of multiple government data sets from both countries.

The standstill appears to be the result of many factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings, the long-term decline in Mexico’s birth rates and changing economic conditions in Mexico. -Pew Hispanic Center

Introducing Actions in the Inbox, powered by schemas

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:40:28 +1200

Introducing Actions in the Inbox, powered by schemas:

Schemas in emails can be used to represent various types of entities and actions. Email clients that understand schemas, such as Gmail, can render entities and actions defined in the messages with a consistent user interface. In the case of Gmail, this means that the emails can display quick action buttons that let users take actions directly from their inboxes, as in the following screenshot:

Email isn’t dead?

Brian Rudman: Time to put brakes on deadly police chases

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:20:29 +1200

Brian Rudman: Time to put brakes on deadly police chases:

In 2009, after a string of calamitous police chases, Justice Lowell Goddard, the chairwoman of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, conducted a comprehensive review of the police pursuit policy and was highly critical.

The background was that between December 2003 and December 2008, 137 pursuits resulted in death or serious bodily harm. Fifty of these pursuits were for minor traffic offences, 40 for potentially “imprisonable” traffic offences such as “boy racer” activity. A further 13 were “without any specific reason”.

Justice Goddard said “the authority questions the value of pursuits that begin over driving offences such as speeding, careless driving or suspect drunken driving without observable, immediate threat to public safety”.

it’s not called “hot pursuit” for nothing.

The Emergence of Chief Digital Officers

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:40:25 +1200

The Emergence of Chief Digital Officers:

One industry where CDOs are making headway is in higher education. The increased interest and activity in delivery of online classes and the rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are spurring administrators to take a deeper look at the role of social and other digital technologies in delivering educational content.

Some sensible commentary, on TV

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:20:03 +1200

Some sensible commentary, on TV:

The second half by Arwa Mahdawi is brilliant.

Upfronts: Meet The Power Players In the 2013 TV Ad-Sales Flurry

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:40:04 +1200

Upfronts: Meet The Power Players In the 2013 TV Ad-Sales Flurry:

Season to date as of April 25th, each member of the Big Four has seen ratings for audiences between 18 and 49 slump. According to data from Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente, ABC’s 18-49 rating is down 12.2%, CBS’s is down 5.9%, Fox’s is off 25.1% and NBC’s is down 8.1%. When ratings vanish, the main way for the nets to make it up is by trying to get higher prices in the cost of reaching a thousand viewers, a measure commonly used in upfront talks that is known as a CPM. But with buyers privately suggesting ad clients won’t tolerate any price hike above 5% to 6%, the networks could be in for a tougher upfront than they have experienced in recent years..

What we really need to boost Internet uptake is TV. Not.

21 Things I Learned About Bitcoin From Living On It For A Week

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:20:12 +1200

21 Things I Learned About Bitcoin From Living On It For A Week:

6. Bitcoin is hard to explain to people. It is perhaps like what it was like explaining “Internet” in its infancy. The easiest way is to call it “the local currency of the Internet,” “the Internet applied to money,” or “stateless virtual money.” Or given the mysteriousness of its unknown and now absent creator (“Satoshi Nakamoto”) and the fact that thousands of people have turned their computers into autonomous mining drones working for mining pool operators that have spent and will spend years slaving away on Nakamoto’s code to create new Bitcoins, this may actually be the Singularity’s mint.

Harder to incumbents.

Federal Government Mandates Unconstitutional Speech Codes At Colleges And Universities Nationwide

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:40:08 +1200

Federal Government Mandates Unconstitutional Speech Codes At Colleges And Universities Nationwide:

The letter states that “sexual harassment should be more broadly defined as ‘any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’” including “verbal conduct” (that is, speech). It then explicitly states that allegedly harassing expression need not even be offensive to an “objectively reasonable person of the same gender in the same situation”—if the listener takes offense to sexually related speech for any reason, no matter how irrationally or unreasonably, the speaker may be punished.

Among the forms of expression now punishable on America’s campuses by order of the federal government are:

Any expression related to sexual topics that offends any person. This leaves a wide range of expressive activity—a campus performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” a presentation on safe sex practices, a debate about sexual morality, a discussion of gay marriage, or a classroom lecture on Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita—subject to discipline.

Any sexually themed joke overheard by any person who finds that joke offensive for any reason.

Any request for dates or any flirtation that is not welcomed by the recipient of such a request or flirtation.

Harmful communication end-game.

Bitcoin Is The Internet Applied To Money

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:20:29 +1200

Bitcoin Is The Internet Applied To Money:

“Bitcoin is the new Cayman Islands.” (It’s an obscure place through which to pass money.)

Except, it’s also this: “Bitcoin is a big ledger where people can see every entry. It’s the most traceable currency ever created.”

Except, that traceability breaks down. “There’s a lot of noise as the transactions increase. Imagine seven billion people hearing seven billion people’s thoughts. The network can’t scale.”

“Economically, it’s useful to be able to send money from point A to point B over the Internet without regulators able to hit the freeze button.”

“Bitcoin is a hack. We move the consensus of who moves money from a network with a few nodes which can be regulated into a network with lots of nodes that can’t.”

“Bitcoin is the Internet applied to money.”

“It melds what we think is gold with what is the Internet.”

“I don’t know what will happen with it.”

Dan Kaminsky

Intercept bill takes cavalier approach to privacy

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:40:29 +1200

Intercept bill takes cavalier approach to privacy:

Curiously, the bill also gives the government the ability to ban a product if the government decides it can’t be made interceptable. Imagine, if you will, the TUANZ encrypted email and storage service that makes sure your highly sensitive documents are stored and transmitted with the greatest of encryption levels. If the security agencies decide that’s going to be a problem, the government will simply ban us from offering it.

A service that offers privacy is now illegal, and can be forbidden by the State? This is neither cavalier or curious, it’s outrageous.

How the Syrian Electronic Army Hacked The Onion - Onion Inc.'s Tech Blog

Sun, 12 May 2013 17:20:22 +1200

How the Syrian Electronic Army Hacked The Onion - Onion Inc.'s Tech Blog:

This is a write-up of how the Syrian Electronic Army hacked The Onion. In summary, they phished Onion employees’

So cool.

Why Bitcoin will succeed

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:40:24 +1200

Why Bitcoin will succeed:

when I say Bitcoin will “succeed,” that isn’t the same as “win.” Existing currencies aren’t going away anytime soon. Even the U.S. dollar’s “almighty” status hasn’t precluded the issuance and use of hundreds of other forms of legal tender.

Rather, I foresee Bitcoin use and adoption growing, facilitating transaction volumes measured in billions of, yes, U.S. dollars. But unlike the dollar or any other existing currency, Bitcoin has a combination of attributes, like gold’s un-debaseable store of value, the euro’s cross-border acceptance and any modern currency’s electronic transmissibility that give it a unique and powerful utility.

That’s why I’m confident Bitcoin’s many flaws will be ironed out. As with a great piece of open-source software, too many people stand to benefit for it not to happen.