Category: Aside

Aside Humour

Phonetap

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date May 5, 2012

Tags NSA, Privacy, Security, Speech, Surveillance, Wiretap

Aside

How LEAs Would Get Information On You

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date April 28, 2012

An infographic that depicts surveillance creep under Bill C-30

Tags C-30, Canada, Lawful Access, Privacy, Surveillance

Aside Links

Valve’s Handbook for New Employees

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date April 27, 2012

Valve’s Handbook for New Employees has made its way to the Internet. While such handbooks are normally incredibly dull – I mean, really, who hasn’t almost fallen asleep or committed suicide to escape reading one? – Valve’s is excellent.

It lays out corporate culture, modes of engaging with other employees, identifying tasks worth doing, and how the company actually functions. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and is scattered with jokes. Valve has, effectively, created a whimsical and useful document that embraces employees. Employers could learn from what Valve has done.

Tags Employment, Valve, Writing

Aside

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date April 25, 2012

When lobbying government, it helps if your high-level staff were well-placed government staffers and officials

Tags Copyright, Lobbying, MPAA, United States

Aside

Grope & Pillage

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date April 17, 2012

Visualizing TSA costs and ‘benefits’ since 9/11

Tags Security, Travel, TSA, United States

Aside

Is Your Phone Being Wiretapped?

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date April 12, 2012

Tags Apple, Mobiles, Privacy, RIM, Surveillance, Wiretap

Aside

What the Apps Can Access

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date March 22, 2012

Just a few of the mobile phone apps that hoover up your information when you run them on your Android device.

Tags Android, Apps, Mobiles

Aside Links

Cogeco’s Meters are Still Broken

Post author By Christopher Parsons
Post date March 18, 2012

From DSLReports we find that:

The leap year appears to be the latest thing to confuse Cogeco’s metering software, with users reporting that a bug resulted in them being informed they’d already used their monthly allotment before March even really got started. Notes one of several users:

“I got my 100% warning on March 1st. I use my router as well to watch my usage. My router for Feb shows 170GB, Cogecos 254. I am going to get hit with a $75 charge and I am pissed. Measurement Canada needs to get involved here, this is getting absurd.”

Measurement Canada seems absolutely unwilling to get involved in issues related to mobile or landline data speeds and volume accuracy. We really need to get at least an OfCom level of involvement: the punting between Industry Canada, Measurement Canada, and the CRTC continues to have very real implications for citizens and consumers, and these problems have to be addressed.