“Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country’s way of life; it’s only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage.” In the wake of last week’s failed bombing of an airplane over Detroit, Bruce Schneier asks us to leverage the inherent strengths of our democracies.
edition.cnn.com
articles
30/12/2009
Is aviation security mostly for show?
20/12/2009
How constant beatings have caught up with campaigner Peter Tatchell
“Only Peter Tatchell could be so enraged by something that is meant to calm him down. But as he grapples with the complicated security locks on his front door to let me out, it strikes me that perhaps the rest of us are lucky that he cares enough to carry on fighting, whatever the cause.” Elizabeth Day talks to Peter Tatchell, a man deserving of some respect.
www.guardian.co.uk
31/05/2009
After Iraq, it’s not just North Korea that wants a bomb
“The idea that there is something irrational in North Korea’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons is clearly absurd. This is, after all, a state that has been targeted for regime change by the US ever since the end of the cold war, included as one of the select group of three in George Bush’s axis of evil in 2002, and whose Clinton administration guarantee of ‘no hostile intent’ was explicitly withdrawn by his successor.” Seumas Milne identifies the single greatest driver of nuclear proliferation.
www.guardian.co.uk
07/04/2009
How to stop the drug wars
“The war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.”
www.economist.com
20/03/2009
Twenty reasons never to fly Ryanair
“Depressingly, all publicity is good publicity when you are the world’s leading budget airline and Ryanair doesn’t give a damn whether you like it or not. But while the airline can be cheap, the customer service truly sucks. So, here are 20 things to remember next time you are led into temptation by those 1p flights.” Laura Whateley has done her research.
timesbusiness.typepad.com
20/01/2009
Why they might miss Dubya when he’s gone
“Like it or not, I fear it will not only be the cartoonists and impressionists who will miss the easy target in the White House when he has gone”, writes Mick Hume on the day George W Bush leaves office.
spiked-online.com
16/12/2008
Welcome to the Police Academy state
“Sir Ian Blair captured the febrile nature of this climate, giddy on nightmares, when he said that de Menezes was killed in the ‘fog of war’. Given that this fog engulfed those giving the orders, little wonder officers stopped behaving rationally.” Tim Black reflects on what the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes tells us about the institutions of the British state.
spiked-online.com
14/11/2008
Still sending naked email?
“In a world of repressive governments and a growing reliance on insecure networks, there’s no way anyone can be sure their most sensitive messages aren’t intercepted by the forces of darkness. But you can make it mathematically improbable that all but the most well-funded snoops could ever make heads or tales of your communications.” Use Dan Goodin’s step-by-step guide to email encryption and keep your communications private.
www.theregister.co.uk
14/10/2008
OpenOffice.org 3.0
“OpenOffice.org has an impressive feature set, a generally lucid interface, pure open-source credentials, and the decisive advantage of being absolutely free.” Edward Mendelson reviews OpenOffice.org 3.0.
www.pcmag.com
04/10/2008
The roots of the crisis
“It is the intersection of several underlying trends that have brought us to this point, not a breakdown in any specific part of the financial sector.” Michael Flynn looks at the underlying reasons for the current Wall Street crisis.
www.reason.com
03/10/2008
The Legacy
“It would have been nice to let Bush’s two terms marinate a while before invoking Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan from the cellar of worst presidents. But then—over the last two weeks—he completed the trilogy of national disasters that will be with us for a generation or more.” Timothy Egan assesses the Bush Presidency.
egan.blogs.nytimes.com
07/05/2008
Hardy Heron makes Linux worth another look
“If you’ve flirted with the idea of switching your desktop operating system to Linux but never took the leap, the time is now.” Kevin Purdy highlights key features of the latest Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) release.
lifehacker.com
02/05/2008
Overload
“The brain is like a hybrid engine, constantly switching back and forth between reasoned calculation and rapid intuition. But what determines how we will handle a particular problem in life? How do we know what part of our cognitive repertoire will be in play today?”
www.newsweek.com
17/04/2008
Bike commuting: a better way to travel
“Nothing has enhanced my life as much as the decision to start bike commuting. I’ve stopped smoking, I don’t drink any more, and I’m always outdoors. I’m saving money, I feel all self-righteous about not polluting, and I can eat plenty without worrying about getting fat. And I arrive at just about any city destination faster than if I’d driven.” Paul Dorn enjoys his ride.
www.runmuki.com
04/03/2008
Sheldon Brown
“If Sheldon Brown had been only an excellent bicycle mechanic, the esteem in which he was held, while great, could not have extended much beyond his native Massachusetts.” Instead, Sheldon Brown used the Internet to become the most widely read bicycle mechanic in the world. He died on February 3, 2008.
www.timesonline.co.uk
20/01/2008
Off the record
“Record company insiders are aghast at the demise of what was their golden goose. And some of them know that they were partly responsible for killing it.” Robert Sandall looks at reasons for the decline in the value of recorded music over recent years.
www.prospect-magazine.co.uk
17/01/2008
Riding advice for urban cyclists
“Understand the principles and then apply them to develop a style that suits your needs and personality.” Read Patrick Field’s excellent guide to riding in traffic.
www.leedscyclists.org.uk
29/10/2007
The case for email security
“It may not be surprising for you to learn that email is not a secure medium of communication; however, it may surprise you to learn just how inherently insecure it really is.” Erik Kangas on how email really works, what the security issues are and where you can make the difference.
luxsci.com (PDF file, 112 kb)
11/10/2007
Make your bike time count
“Simply riding your bike will help improve your fitness and your handling skills, but there are training techniques you can adopt to make sure you get a decent workout.” Joe Beer with a few tips on how to spend your time in the saddle more effectively.
www.bikeradar.com
23/09/2007
That’s me: radical superhero of the streets
“Cycling in London is an extreme sport, little safer than base jumping. A journey begins with trepidation and ends with me slightly high that I’m still alive.” Janice Turner does not depend on timetables or traffic. On two wheels, she enjoys the pleasure of knowing exactly what time she’ll arrive.
www.timesonline.co.uk