Monthly Archives: July 2007

Paths of Causality

Posted on July 31, 2007 by ben

It turns out, there is a gene that predisposes to left-handedness. Fascinating stuff. But this is the kind of article where you wish you could ask more questions: Australian research published last year found left-handed people can think quicker when … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | 3 Comments

Way to Go, Secretary Bowen.

Posted on July 30, 2007 by ben

In 2004, I appeared on a panel at Harvard alongside Debra Bowen, who was then a California State Senator. I found her to be extremely sharp, and particularly insightful about voting issues at a time when most of the public … Continue reading →

Posted in policy, security, voting | Leave a comment

The Web is the Platform, Part 2

Posted on July 20, 2007 by ben

So the iPhone is selling like crazy and web 2.0 developers are jumping on the bandwagon with iphone hacking sessions, an IRC channel, a mailing list, and some really neat tricks to squeeze unexpected features out of the Safari web … Continue reading →

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The Three Laws of Computer Ethics

Posted on July 18, 2007 by ben

Julie Amero is a substitute teacher who faces the possibility of jail time because the classroom computer displayed pornographic popups to teenage kids. Though she tried to stop it, she was somehow blamed by an incompetent and overreaching school administration. … Continue reading →

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The Apple Effect

Posted on July 12, 2007 by ben

On June 29th, the day the iPhone launched, I posted the following to a private mailing list: I suspect there’ll also be an ipod/DRM effect. Once the ipod got super hot, you had folks demanding that Apple “make it compatible … Continue reading →

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What Happens Before You Mail It?

Posted on July 11, 2007 by ben

The No-Vote-By-Mail blog cites me again, and in so doing points me to a a note by King County in Washington about how they are ensuring that vote-by-mail preserves ballot secrecy. Okay, let’s say I believe everything they say. The … Continue reading →

Posted in privacy, voting | 3 Comments

Making Sure You’re Human

Posted on July 6, 2007 by ben

I’ve had a bit too much weird spam lately, so I’ve added a CAPTCHA system where, if you want to post a comment, you have to recognize and type in two deformed words to prove you’re not a robot. I … Continue reading →

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Facebook Platform: bad login practices, OpenID doesn’t work

Posted on July 3, 2007 by ben

Facebook launched a platform that lets third-party developers add Facebook applications. This is visionary, and it’s very very cool (though I’m not sure it’s the revolution everyone is talking about.) The problem, of course, is authentication. Take a look at … Continue reading →

Posted in crypto, identity, web | 5 Comments

Advertising = Democracy?

Posted on July 2, 2007 by ben

A few days ago, the Google Healthcare blog carried an entry that criticized Michael Moore’s latest film, Sicko, for not providing a balanced view of the health care world. The reaction in the blogosphere was clearly negative, with folks wondering … Continue reading →

Posted in policy | 4 Comments