There have been more egregious episodes of U.S. border agents hassling and/or needlessly detaining citizens and valid visa-holders since the White House changed hands, but perhaps none has been more bizarre – or even darkly comical – than this one.
Celestine Omin, a 28-year-old software engineer from Lagos, Nigeria, was traveling to the U.S. on Sunday as part of his job with Andela, a startup backed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. Upon arrival at JFK Airport, he was questioned by one border agent, waited for an hour, and then was brought to a different room to be questioned by a second agent. From a LinkedIn story:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In moments of optimism, I’d like to believe there is still some common ground upon which liberals and conservatives – even supporters of President Trump – can stand with firm resolve. One such patch should be ensuring privacy protections for the digital devices and sensitive personal information of all U.S. citizens when they pass through border checkpoints.Toward that end, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has signaled his intention to file legislation that would require customs and law enforcement agencies to acquire a warrant before compelling access to a U.S. traveler’s electronic device and also prohibit the growing practice of demanding social media identities and passwords. In a letter to John Kelly, director of homeland security, Wyden poses the following questions:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In moments of optimism, I’d like to believe there is still some common ground upon which liberals and conservatives – even supporters of President Trump – can stand with firm resolve. One such patch should be ensuring privacy protections for the digital devices and sensitive personal information of all U.S. citizens when they pass through border checkpoints.Toward that end, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has signaled his intention to file legislation that would require customs and law enforcement agencies to acquire a warrant before compelling access to a U.S. traveler’s electronic device and also prohibit the growing practice of demanding social media identities and passwords. In a letter to John Kelly, director of homeland security, Wyden poses the following questions:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Motherboard has an interesting look at the somewhat surprising survival of physical software in shrink-wrapped boxes, which continues to account for roughly a third of software sales.This is true even though in most cases the boxes contain little or nothing.
Most of these physical packages are virtually empty, with only a tiny piece of paper inside with a download link and an activation code. Companies who sell software this way (say) that including a DVD is often a useless endeavor, as new laptops lack optical drives. Even when companies do sell physical media, users would still need to download the latest version of the software, as opposed to the one that's on the optical disk.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In March 2015, RSA Conference organizers made news by contractually insisting that vendors pitch their security wares without the help of “booth babes,” a first such ban for the technology industry.Next week’s RSAC in San Francisco will be the third without the babes, so I checked in with event staff to see if the policy had evolved at all and how it has been accepted by various stake-holders. Here’s how the contract language read in 2015:
All Expo staff are expected to dress in business and/or business casual attire. Exhibitors should ensure that the attire of al staff they deploy at their booth (whether the exhibitor’s direct employees or their contractors) be considered appropriate in a professional environment. Attire of an overly revealing or suggestive nature is not permitted. Examples of such attire may include but are not restricted to:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In March 2015, RSA Conference organizers made news by contractually insisting that vendors pitch their security wares without the help of “booth babes,” a first such ban for the technology industry.Next week’s RSAC in San Francisco will be the third without the babes, so I checked in with event staff to see if the policy had evolved at all and how it has been accepted by various stake-holders. Here’s how the contract language read in 2015:
All Expo staff are expected to dress in business and/or business casual attire. Exhibitors should ensure that the attire of al staff they deploy at their booth (whether the exhibitor’s direct employees or their contractors) be considered appropriate in a professional environment. Attire of an overly revealing or suggestive nature is not permitted. Examples of such attire may include but are not restricted to:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Everyone knows what to do when life gives you lemons. Well, the same can apply when technology cries wolf at four in the morning, according to a contributor to Reddit’s section devoted to systems administration.
Every morning at just past 4 a.m., I get a text from Solarwinds that makes my phone beep. The alert is that one of our LDAP servers is unresponsive. Then two minutes later I get a text/phone beep that LDAP is back up. Every day.It’s OK, I need to catch the bus/train just past 5 a.m. anyway, gives me time to get ready / pack my lunch, drink a cup of coffee, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Everyone knows what to do when life gives you lemons. Well, the same can apply when technology cries wolf at four in the morning, according to a contributor to Reddit’s section devoted to systems administration.
Every morning at just past 4 a.m., I get a text from Solarwinds that makes my phone beep. The alert is that one of our LDAP servers is unresponsive. Then two minutes later I get a text/phone beep that LDAP is back up. Every day.It’s OK, I need to catch the bus/train just past 5 a.m. anyway, gives me time to get ready / pack my lunch, drink a cup of coffee, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Everyone knows what to do when life gives you lemons. Well, the same can apply when technology cries wolf at four in the morning, according to a contributor to Reddit’s section devoted to systems administration.
Every morning at just past 4 a.m., I get a text from Solarwinds that makes my phone beep. The alert is that one of our LDAP servers is unresponsive. Then two minutes later I get a text/phone beep that LDAP is back up. Every day.It’s OK, I need to catch the bus/train just past 5 a.m. anyway, gives me time to get ready / pack my lunch, drink a cup of coffee, etc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Taking to President Trump’s favored communications platform, Twitter, a who’s who of prominent technology and business leaders are speaking out against the new administration’s ban on Muslims from certain countries entering the United States.Mark Cuban, entrepreneur
Twitter
David Karp, Tumblr
Twitter
Mark Benioff, Salesforce.com
Twitter
Jack Dorsey, Twitter
Twitter
Elon Musk, entrepreneur
Twitter
Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Twitter
Here is Nadella's message.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Taking to President Trump’s favored communications platform, Twitter, a who’s who of prominent technology and business leaders are speaking out against the new administration’s ban on Muslims from certain countries entering the United States.Mark Cuban, entrepreneur
Twitter
David Karp, Tumblr
Twitter
Mark Benioff, Salesforce.com
Twitter
Jack Dorsey, Twitter
Twitter
Elon Musk, entrepreneur
Twitter
Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Twitter
Here is Nadella's message.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Taking to President Trump’s favored communications platform, Twitter, a who’s who of prominent technology and business leaders are speaking out against the new administration’s ban on Muslims from certain countries entering the United States.Mark Cuban, entrepreneur
Twitter
David Karp, Tumblr
Twitter
Mark Benioff, Salesforce.com
Twitter
Jack Dorsey, Twitter
Twitter
Elon Musk, entrepreneur
Twitter
Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Twitter
Here is Nadella's message.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Yes, the term “fake news” has already been politicized to the point of near-meaninglessness, but before it is relegated to the dustbin of our lexicon, allow me to note that the practice itself has been around for eons and is no stranger to the world of technology.Just ask the peddlers of eBay’s famously fake tale of being born out of a girlfriend’s love for Pez dispensers, a fib I fumed about in the former print edition of Network World way back in 2002.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Verizon has doused a public-relations flare-up with the volunteer fire department that serves a small Virginia island community, meaning that:
The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company will pay far less than $73,000 to have telecommunications equipment moved off land that will accommodate its new headquarters.
This financial relief will forestall the heftier bill possibly having had to come out of the hides of the Chincoteague Ponies, a herd of 150 wild horses that are shepherded by the firefighters and helpful to have when publicly battling a major corporation.
And, finally, that T-Mobile CEO John Legere can keep his checkbook in his pocket.
First the cease-fire. From the fire company’s Facebook page:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Verizon has doused a public-relations flare-up with the volunteer fire department that serves a small Virginia island community, meaning that:
The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company will pay far less than $73,000 to have telecommunications equipment moved off land that will accommodate its new headquarters.
This financial relief will forestall the heftier bill possibly having had to come out of the hides of the Chincoteague Ponies, a herd of 150 wild horses that are shepherded by the firefighters and helpful to have when publicly battling a major corporation.
And, finally, that T-Mobile CEO John Legere can keep his checkbook in his pocket.
First the cease-fire. From the fire company’s Facebook page:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Eight years is but a blink in the grand scheme, yet so much will have changed on the technology and social-media landscape between when Barack Obama took the oath on Jan. 20, 2009 and Donald Trump does so Friday.Before he got started, Obama needed to plead and perhaps pull rank to keep his beloved BlackBerry, a gadget preference which at the time did not seem all that odd. Obama would remain loyal to the device, too, even as its popularity diminished, only relinquishing it last year in exchange for a customized smartphone that he mocked as more suitable for a toddler than a commander in chief.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Eight years is but a blink in the grand scheme, yet so much will have changed on the technology and social-media landscape between when Barack Obama took the oath on Jan. 20, 2009 and Donald Trump does so Friday.Before he got started, Obama needed to plead and perhaps pull rank to keep his beloved BlackBerry, a gadget preference which at the time did not seem all that odd. Obama would remain loyal to the device, too, even as its popularity diminished, only relinquishing it last year in exchange for a customized smartphone that he mocked as more suitable for a toddler than a commander in chief.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The above headline on a post to Reddit piqued my interest this afternoon because it was in that site’s section devoted to system administration and those people know a bug when they encounter one.The Redditor elaborates: “I found a bug in my ASA today. Eth 0/2 was totally unusable and seemed ‘blocked.’ These Cisco bugs are really getting out of hand. I'm just glad I didn't open this port up to the web.”Scare quotes around blocked? Gratuitous mention of the web. I smelled a ruse before even opening the first of three pictures.No. 1, labeled “checking layer 1:”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The above headline on a post to Reddit piqued my interest this afternoon because it was in that site’s section devoted to system administration and those people know a bug when they encounter one.The Redditor elaborates: “I found a bug in my ASA today. Eth 0/2 was totally unusable and seemed ‘blocked.’ These Cisco bugs are really getting out of hand. I'm just glad I didn't open this port up to the web.”Scare quotes around blocked? Gratuitous mention of the web. I smelled a ruse before even opening the first of three pictures.No. 1, labeled “checking layer 1:”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The above headline on a post to Reddit piqued my interest this afternoon because it was in that site’s section devoted to system administration and those people know a bug when they encounter one.The Redditor elaborates: “I found a bug in my ASA today. Eth 0/2 was totally unusable and seemed ‘blocked.’ These Cisco bugs are really getting out of hand. I'm just glad I didn't open this port up to the web.”Scare quotes around blocked? Gratuitous mention of the web. I smelled a ruse before even opening the first of three pictures.No. 1, labeled “checking layer 1:”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Paul McNamara