In my latest post for OpenMedia, I underscore the importance of all Canadians having access to reliable, affordable broadband.
My remote Canadian peeps, this one's for you.
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When all our things have little computers in them, companies can make the rules about how and when we'll use our things, or if we can repair them. In my latest for OpenMedia, I go over all the troubling implications this new status quo presents.
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Over at OpenMedia.org, I provide some quick commentary on why customs agents demanding people's passwords isn't just a gross violation of privacy, it also undermines IT security culture, putting users at further risk.
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On Monday, Province journalist Mike Smyth reported that a seemingly private document was freely available on the BC Liberals' public website; a document containing the e-mail addresses and postal codes of about 100 people who took part in a Liberal public-outreach effort.
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A bit of a furor developed this week in BC politics, and to the potential delight of IT professionals like me, it's a story about incorrect file permissions.
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For a post about 2016, I know I'm three weeks too late. Bear with me though, it took a LOT of effort to pull something positive out of that year.
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In my latest for OpenMedia, I weigh into the tech-journalism spitstorm that has recently embroiled The Guardian and WhatsApp.
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It was August 26th, I was browsing the internet during slack time at work. "WTF is on fire downtown??" asked someone in the /r/Vancouver subreddit, posting a picture of black smoke billowing from somewhere near the edge of Strathcona. It soon became clear that a home was on fire in that neighbourhood. As I glanced at my Facebook feed through the rest of the day, something else became clear: that I knew a person who lived in that home.
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Whether you loved it, found it full of problems, or a bit of both (raises hand) Star Wars: Rogue One has made a big splash and inspired lots of punditry. One of the things that has spurred plenty of discussion is the depiction of the Imperial military archives on Scarif.
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Taking a cab ride home from a friend's Christmas party, my friend Nadia and I took some time to chat about the nature of our selves. Nadia wondered to me that perhaps we have preconceived notions of ourselves that we cling to, many years after we've formed them. Are those notions of self still valid, or more delicately, useful, so many years after they were constructed?
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No one's got a crystal ball, but given what we do know, the future of encryption (and all the technology which depends on it) looks grim, thanks to You-Know-Who. Read all about it in my latest article for OpenMedia (header art by yours truly): The Future of Encryption Under Trump.
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Last month, on the same day, several HP printers suddenly stopped accepting 3rd-party ink cartridges.
The cause was more sinister than you might think, and raises the question: What happens when built-in firmware makes your devices work for their manufacturers first, and for you second?
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Today I was lucky to be able to attend a public consultation by The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, a multi-partisan parliamentary committee tasked with examining Canada's national security apparatuses, and related issues such as oversight. I prepared a short spiel on encryption which, I hoped, would pack as much rhetorical punch as possible into about four minutes.
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So today, after being called at on the street by a stranger, I've finally hit my breaking point on the word "ginger"
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My latest blog for OpenMedia.org is the culmination of lots of research, several interviews, and a week of furious writing. I interviewed the parents of four families to find out how they navigate the difficult and complicated matter of parenting alongside modern technologies like video games, snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube.
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My latest blog at OpenMedia.org uses the freshly-declared war between Facebook and AdBlock Plus as a framework for the discussion of ad-blocking software: and why its necessary to protect our privacy, our computer security, and frankly, our sanity!
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Sometimes, in a quiet moment, I’ll try to deconstruct all the influences which helped to form my socio-political views on how society should endeavour to function.
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Once upon a time there was a bakery: West-Rose Bakers.
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