"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines — including Google — do retain this information for some time… we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act…" —Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in 2009. Here's Bruce Schneier's response, from 2006.
Schneier vs. Schmidt on "privacy is for those who have something to hide."
Why do cellphones keep adding new Gs?
Smartphones are my least favorite part of modern society. I hated cellphones the minute they practically became mandatory in the 2000s, and I've only become more disgusted by them every year. There are too many reasons to list, but for the purposes of this article, let's consolidate it to one: it's a pain to stay… READ THE REST
How USB happened
USB has been with us for 26 years. At the time, the technology's co-developer Ajay Bhatt thought it would just be a "[one-off] $40 million opportunity" for Intel. And without his persistence, it wouldn't have happened at all. From IEEE Spectrum: In the early 1990s, Bhatt told his boss about his idea of developing a… READ THE REST
Epic Games is buying Bandcamp
Fortnight publisher Epic Games has acquired Bandcamp, the online platform that transformed the independent music business in wonderful ways. "The products and services you depend on aren't going anywhere, we'll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model," said Bandcamp co-founder/CEO Ethan Diamond in a statement. From The Verge: Epic describes Bandcamp as committed… READ THE REST
Got a home repair project? This HD endoscope camera can give you a closer look
As much as you hate it, sometimes we have to search for things in places we never want to go, like the kitchen sink's drain, the dusty attic, or the spider-web-laden area underneath the house. Your shrieks might just bring music to their ears! But as much as we don't want to see what's in these… READ THE REST
With Buildix Pro, you don't have to be a pro developer to make a killer website
Whether you have your own cookie business or run a celebrity gossip blog, having an unimpressive landing page can really slow things down. Sure, hiring a professional developer to create a website would be awesome, but their rates can be pretty steep, and that's not something you want to budget for these days. Just because… READ THE REST
Send untouched files and useless apps to the dump with this app for Macs
How much of your Mac's storage space is actually stuff you use? Odds are good a significant portion of your hard drive is filled with untouched downloads, duplicate files, and apps you forgot existed. You may not have noticed it, but the gradual slowing of your computer could be due to all those files just sitting… READ THE REST
