On my last post I suggested we should be legitimately suspicious of our ISPs. One of my friends[1] asked, “Any thoughts on which VPN service to use?” If you’re not technical, VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network.” In brief, a VPN service encrypts all your traffic, including your domain name lookups[2]. Your encrypted request goes…
According to the headlines, Google is being sued. “Memo man Damore is back – with lawyers,” “James Damore Sues Google,” even “James Damore’s Lawsuit is Designed to Embarrass Google.” No, no, no. Damore isn’t suing Google. Harmeet Dhillon is suing Google. His lawyer is “an American lawyer and Republican party official. She is the former…
I’ve seen a lot of conspiracy theories that Facebook or Google are eavesdropping on our conversations. And there’s been a lot of mockery over the privacy concerns about people putting the Amazon Echo into their living room. But at the same time people seem totally fine with carrying a camera and microphone around with them…
From a Venezuelan who learned a fair amount suffering under Hugo Chavez: “Normal politicians collapse in the face of scandal because the scandals show them dozing on the job or falling back on their promises. To get elected, they offer a bargain: “Vote for me: I will make you richer/fight for your rights/assure your progress.”…
Came across an elegantly written essay that I found pretty powerful. It’s subtle and not for everyone, but if you’re one of the people it’s for, you may find it transcendent. The Twelve Virtues of Rationality: Curiosity: a burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. Relinquishment: “That which can…
Ok, let’s summarize: 1. The tax bill drastically increases costs for graduate students by charging the tuition which they don’t pay as income. 2. The tax bill would devastate startups, especially technology startups, by taxing options when they vest (but in many cases before they could be sold, making them worthless for startups). Note: this…
Protect yourself! Follow the standard advice about phishing: Be suspicious of anyone who contacts you by phone or email and pushes you to act right away. Don’t click on links in emails. Make account changes by navigating directly to a site and log in there instead of going through an email link. Don’t return phone…
