Podcast: Escape Your Gadgets

Here’s something I recorded for the BBC on how to escape from your gadgets by climbing a volcano. Not an option for everyone, but it worked for me. If you want to subscribe to an RSS feed of this podcast you can do so here, or it can be found on iTunes. My Loose Wire … Read more

Podcast: Backing Up I

Here’s something I recorded for the BBC on backing up (a topic I revisit in later columns and broadcasts.) If you want to subscribe to an RSS feed of this podcast you can do so here, or it can be found on iTunes. My Loose Wire column for The Wall Street Journal Asia and WSJ.com, … Read more

Drive Safely

This is probably the way to go with USB drives — security features that the user has to follow, or else the device won’t work.  Verbatim’s new Store ‘n’ Go Corporate Secure USB Drives’ mandatory security features safeguard all device contents with a complex password. Hack resistant feature locks down device after 10 failed logon … Read more

Journalists’ Responsibility Is To The Truth, Not The Cops

But why the hell not? Shafer argues that this puts the next reporter in a
risky position: Will sources trust him or see him an an agent of the law? I
think the reporter who does not follow Eichenwald’s lead is in a
riskier position: of allowing and thus even abetting crimes to be
committed. And what does that tell the public about our role in our
communities? What kind of citizens are we then? Now to the third,
inevitable illustration. I wish that On the Media had asked Eichenwald
about Judy Miller and related cases, for the parallels are clear. She knew
a crime had been committed and she went

Sneaky Software: AOL’s Bad

AOL 9.0 (free version) Status: Open Inquiry In our preliminary findings, we
find that AOL 9.0 (free version) is currently badware because it installs
additional software without telling the user, it forces the user to take
certain actions, it adds various components to Internet Explorer and the
taskbar without disclosure, it may automatically update without the
user’s consent, and it fails to uninstall completely. We currently
recommend that users do not install the version of AOL software that we
tested, unless the user is comfortable with the level of risk we identify or
until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in
this report. OVERALL RATING Badware Behavior Installs