Blogger since 2002, political activist since 2003, geek since birth. Opinions informed by mixed-race, multi-ethnic, cis-female condition, further shaped by kind friends of all persuasions. Sci-tech frenemy, wannabe artist, decent cook, determined author, successful troublemaker. Mother of invention and two excessively smart-assed young adult kids. Attended School of Hard Knocks; Rather Unfortunate Smallish Private Business School in Midwest; Affordable Mid-State Community College w/evening classes. Self-employed at Tiny Consulting Business; previously at Large-ish Chemical Company with HQ in Midwest in multiple marginalizing corporate drone roles, and at Rather Big IT Service Provider as a project manager, preceded by a motley assortment of gigs before the gig economy was a thing. Blogging experience includes a personal blog at the original blogs.salon.com, managing editor for a state-based news site, and a stint at Firedoglake before landing here at emptywheel as technology’s less-virginal-but-still-accursed Cassandra.
If you value emptywheel’s insights, donate the equivalent of a couple beers—and thanks for your readership and support. My Twitter timelines across multiple accounts are buzzing with Apple iPhone 5s announcement news. Pardon me if I can’t get excited about the marvel that is iPhone’s new fingerprint-based biometric security. Let’s reset all the hype: There is […]
If you want fresh and weedy perspectives you won’t find in corporate-owned media, please donate! A friendly handshake is offered; Names are swapped after entry; The entrant delivers a present; The present is unboxed with a secret key… And * BOOM * Payload delivered. This is cyber weapon Stuxnet‘s operations sequence. At two points in […]
Microsoft’s “trusted computing platform.” Microsoft’s “secure boot” technology. The doublespeak almost writes itself these days. Whose “trusted computing”? Whose “platform”? And whose “secure boot”? At least one government has expressed concerns in internal documents, buttressed by an unusual public statement in response to reports about the leaked documents. According to German news outlet Die Zeit, […]
Remember this presentation slide on PRISM from last month’s blockbuster report by the Guardian-UK? Remember the one outlier right smack in the middle of the slide — the company name most folks don’t recognize? PalTalk. Very few news outlets tackled PalTalk, explaining what the business is and asking why it was included in the program. […]
For a change of pace, let’s talk about superheroes. Like Superman. Batman. Iron Man. The Avengers. Spider-man. We’ve been inundated with superheroes at the box office for the last several years. We eat them up, based on box office ticket sales. But why? Filmmaker Peter Webber tweeted, Glut of superhero movies is because of 2 […]
What is this so-called tech company doing? Microsoft sees itself as going head-to-head with Apple and Google. The 10-year chart above comparing Microsoft, Apple, and Google stock tells us this has been a delusional perception. It also sees itself in competition with IBM. Yet IBM surpassed it in market value two years ago, even after […]
Some of you may have been at Netroots Nation this summer, along with Team Emptywheel. I couldn’t go this year. I stayed home because my teen son needs more parental guidance right now. My once-sunny 15-and-a-half year-old who carried As and Bs all through grades K-8 suddenly became a difficult student. He failed a class […]
Get out the biggest popcorn bowl you own and extra napkins, find your cushy tushy pillow, and get ready for some serious entertainment. Former New York State governor Eliot Spitzer (D) has thrown his hat in the ring for state comptroller. He will be running against Kristin Davis (R) for the same seat, along with […]
Like Marcy, I find myself pondering today the Declaration of Independence as well as the subsequent system of government set in motion with publication of this influential document. So much of what our founding fathers protested about the monarchy was the unilateral nature of governance. The signatories quite literally signed their death warrants as they […]
The yapping of national security conservatives, whether self-identified as Republicans or Democrats, obscures the truth when they denigrate Edward Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong and subsequent attempts at whistleblowing. The truth is this: • Others before Snowden tried to go through so-called chain of command or proper channels to complain about the National Security Agency’s domestic […]