I've been a great admirer of Tom Standage for a number of years--and highly recommend his book _The Victorian Internet_ that describes parallels between the head-in-the-ground reactions to the invention and growth of the telegraph during the mid-19th century to that of the Internet in the late 20th century.
I have to think Standage recognizes the dissonance of his remarks, but finds himself in the role of corporate spokesperson for a magazine whose editors don't quite get the irony yet.
Of course the policies of the Economist only serve to hurt the Economist. (Don't they have an SEO consultant on staff?). And to say "we aren't going to do X because everyone else does X" is bullshit. What they are really saying is "you can get quality elsewhere; our product is for the consumer who doesn't want quality."
I used to work for a company you all have heard of. (Check my LinkedIn profile if you really care which one.) Back in the day (October 1989) our Bay Area office was destroyed by an earthquake you may also have heard about. Live and backup data within the office was destroyed. The policy at the time (now policy is very different) was not to rely on any local offsite backup facility as that could just as easily be destroyed by a quake. Rather, the office had a deal with a taxi driver to come every evening after daily backups and carry around a copy in the trunk of his cab. Next night he'd be back to swap disk packs and would carry the new copy.
The office recovered from the quake using data from the disk packs in his cab.
As to Tim's post: I'm a Democrat who has supported Obama from early on (though break with him on several issues of TechDirt focus). Despite my general support, I agree with everything Tim wrote--something does not smell right here. They do need to recover those emails no matter what is on them.
The phrase "if you see something, say something" should be borrowed by the community on the lookout for over-zealous IP ownership claims and become a standard tool of the trade.
"So when Chief Justice Roberts suggests that a person carrying two cell phones might reasonably be suspected of dealing drugs..."
My wife carries two cell phones: a personal one with a number she's had as long as I've known her; and a Blackberry her employer provided and requires she carry.
As Mike pointed out, this is correlation, not causation. And it is not at all unusual that Representatives vote more or less aligned with the lobbies that support them: most all representatives and all lobbies.
The system may be broken, but there isn't anything sinister beyond that going on here.
I have been an Obama voter and fan all along, so it is completely beyond me to understand how he has ended up in charge of this Kafkaesque government we seem to currently have.
1. In this case the IP addresses are being triangulated with significant additional information; and
2. The security expert (Neville) was careful to note that one can't say for sure the user was John Steele; rather that it was someone who had access to his accounts (several of which were accessed from the same IP address.)
I note the "Overreaction Department" tag line on the post.
The firm is taking very reasonable steps to protect their data (and their clients' data). Agreed the security risk is the employee, not the technology. But they rightly recognize that no amount of training will completely eliminate employees mistakes, especially since the scammers keep inventing new ruses.
And the firm is taking the reasonable step of mounting a new network outside their firewall to support employee access to personal accounts. So the firm isn't trying to wall off access completely during the workday, an action that would be problematic on several dimensions.
I'd say the overreaction here is on the part of our poster, not on the part of the law firm.
Not only does one lose out on the airline looking out for you with delayed flights (as was mentioned on Twitter to Mike), but I suspect there are a few other losses as well.
1. If you do have to re-book do to missed flights or change of plans, you would get hit with a separate change fee for each leg.
2. My recollection from doing the separate leg thing in the past we that I couldn't get them to check my bags all the way through.
I was separately buying legs of a contiguous trip. Mike seems to be buying legs with stopovers, so this constraint wouldn't apply to him.
On the post: PayPal Stops A Payment Just Because The Payee's Memo Included The Word 'Cuba'
Re: Cuba
On the post: PayPal Stops A Payment Just Because The Payee's Memo Included The Word 'Cuba'
Re: Cuba
On the post: Disney Sending Out DMCA Notices Over Pictures Fans Took Of Their Legally Purchased Star Wars Toy
Not a huge fan
On the post: The Internet Never Ends: You Can Deny That Or Embrace It
a Victorian attitude toward the Internet
I have to think Standage recognizes the dissonance of his remarks, but finds himself in the role of corporate spokesperson for a magazine whose editors don't quite get the irony yet.
Of course the policies of the Economist only serve to hurt the Economist. (Don't they have an SEO consultant on staff?). And to say "we aren't going to do X because everyone else does X" is bullshit. What they are really saying is "you can get quality elsewhere; our product is for the consumer who doesn't want quality."
That approach never works in the long term.
On the post: Hertz Puts Video Cameras Inside Its Rental Cars, Has 'No Current Plans' To Use Them
Mendoza Line
I sure hope they can field.
On the post: Former Senator Scott Brown's Staff Sends Larry Lessig A Letter Demanding He Stop Referring To Brown As A 'Lobbyist'
World's second oldest profession?
So that means he is pimping lobbyists.
Perhaps it will clarify things if Lessig explains it this way.
On the post: Justice Dept. Official: We Could Get Lois Lerner's Emails From Backups, But It's Too Hard So Naaaaaah
Backups. We don't need no stinkin' backups.
The office recovered from the quake using data from the disk packs in his cab.
As to Tim's post: I'm a Democrat who has supported Obama from early on (though break with him on several issues of TechDirt focus). Despite my general support, I agree with everything Tim wrote--something does not smell right here. They do need to recover those emails no matter what is on them.
On the post: NY Port Authority Claims To Own The NYC Skyline: Tells Store To Destroy Skyline-Themed Plates
This is something
On the post: Court Says Feds Violated 4th Amendment By Holding Onto Suspect's Computer Data Too Long
Facebook
On the post: The Supreme Court's Real Technology Problem: It Thinks Carrying 2 Phones Means You're A Drug Dealer
This remark is just ignorant
My wife carries two cell phones: a personal one with a number she's had as long as I've known her; and a Blackberry her employer provided and requires she carry.
Her employer? The US Federal Government.
On the post: Rep. Goodlatte Slips Secret Change Into Phone Unlocking Bill That Opens The DMCA Up For Wider Abuse
Suspension of the rules
On the post: Upset About Beyonce Going Digital, Target Refuses To Stock New Album
Missed the Target
But so what they don't carry this one; so much easier to pre-order from Amazon anyway and just have it show up at my door.
On the post: US Spy Satellite Logo Not At All Subtle: Octopus Enveloping The Earth
Re:
On the post: Jennifer Hoelzer's Insider's View Of The Administration's Response To NSA Surveillance Leaks
Re:
On the post: All About The Money: Reps Who Voted For NSA Surveillance Received 2X As Much Money From Defense Industry
Correlation
The system may be broken, but there isn't anything sinister beyond that going on here.
On the post: Feds Say It's Classified Info To Say Who We're At War With
Re: Treason
I have been an Obama voter and fan all along, so it is completely beyond me to understand how he has ended up in charge of this Kafkaesque government we seem to currently have.
On the post: Congresswoman Claims 'Fair Use' And 'Transparency' Are Just 'Buzz Terms'
Sometimes it's a fine line between the two...
On the post: New Filing Presents Evidence That John Steele Uploaded Videos To BitTorrent Himself
Re:
1. In this case the IP addresses are being triangulated with significant additional information; and
2. The security expert (Neville) was careful to note that one can't say for sure the user was John Steele; rather that it was someone who had access to his accounts (several of which were accessed from the same IP address.)
On the post: You've Got (No) Mail! Major Law Firm Blocks Employee Email Access
Comment from the Irony Department
The firm is taking very reasonable steps to protect their data (and their clients' data). Agreed the security risk is the employee, not the technology. But they rightly recognize that no amount of training will completely eliminate employees mistakes, especially since the scammers keep inventing new ruses.
And the firm is taking the reasonable step of mounting a new network outside their firewall to support employee access to personal accounts. So the firm isn't trying to wall off access completely during the workday, an action that would be problematic on several dimensions.
I'd say the overreaction here is on the part of our poster, not on the part of the law firm.
On the post: Flight Search Engines And The Multi-City Ripoff
Two other disadvantages of separate leg bookings
1. If you do have to re-book do to missed flights or change of plans, you would get hit with a separate change fee for each leg.
2. My recollection from doing the separate leg thing in the past we that I couldn't get them to check my bags all the way through.
I was separately buying legs of a contiguous trip. Mike seems to be buying legs with stopovers, so this constraint wouldn't apply to him.
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