“We’re about to get slightly technical here—but this is basic information you need to know.” John Locke explains the dangers of surfing the web and what you can do to control the risks.
www.freesoftwaremagazine.com
Category Archives: articles
Word processors: stupid and inefficient
“The word processor is a stupid and inefficient tool for preparing text for communication with others.” Allin Cottrell outlines the comparative benefits of using LaTeX.
www.ecn.wfu.edu
LaTeX: it’s not just for academia
The platter that matters
“If I’m right, the next few years are going to see a lot of anguish from computer users who have suddenly realised that hard disk failure involves more than just inconvenience and loss of face”, writes John Naughton.
www.observer.co.uk
Understanding email netiquette
“Internet life carries its own versions of courtesy, privacy and security issues that all users need to know.” This article discusses basic email etiquette and explains the proper use of the To, CC and BCC fields when sending emails.
www.bestprac.org
Darwinian markets
“I’m struck by the work of some of the anti-globalization protesters, which has been admirably out-of-the-tunnel in terms of motivation, but naively ill-informed about how the world economy works.” Economist Paul Seabright on how human beings developed a complex system of cooperation and specialization between unrelated individuals.
www.reason.com
My personal VE Day
“Every German schoolchild knows the tales of German atrocities. But in England, Prince Harry parties with a swastika arm band.” Matthias Matussek wonders whether the time has finally come for the British to re-evaluate their stance.
www.opendemocracy.org
Introduction to cryptography
Not entirely sure how cryptography works? This document’s two chapters, The Basics of Cryptography and Phil Zimmermann on PGP, will tell you what you need to know.
ftp.pgpi.org (PDF file, 1007 kb)
Power of Nightmares re-awakened
“The Power of Nightmares – first screened in Autumn 2004 and repeated this week on BBC2 – questions whether the threat of terrorism to the West is a politically driven fantasy and if al-Qaeda really is an organised network.” Read producer Adam Curtis’s responses to comments from viewers around the world.
news.bbc.co.uk
A laptop, a coffee, and disaster recovery
“Last week, my laptop died a sudden, spectacular death-by-drowning, as a full cup of coffee poured into its keyboard.” John Locke reflects on the importance of having an effective backup strategy.
www.freesoftwaremagazine.com
Ego makes entrepreneurs?
“While conventional wisdom assumes entrepreneurs have great risk tolerance compared to the rest of us, we consistently found that they aren’t really that different. In some cases, they’re even more risk averse.” Researcher Brian Wu finds overconfidence to be the vital ingredient.
www.businessweek.com
Low taxes do what?
Was Ross Perot right in suggesting that NAFTA would result in a “giant sucking sound”, with US jobs fast disappearing over the border to Mexico? Or did the number of jobs increase after NAFTA went into effect? Thomas Sowell is in search of the facts.
www.hoover.org
More sorry than safe
“If everything we did had to be absolutely safe, risk-free, proven to have no adverse outcomes for anyone or anything, we’d never get anywhere.” Professor Sir Colin Berry talks to Brendan O’Neill on why the precautionary principle is making life more dangerous for all of us.
www.spiked-online.com
Stick or twist
“It’s hard to justify the expense of £90 to £150 per computer a year to run software that’s definitely no better than the free alternative.” Chris Johnston reports on why OpenOffice.org could loosen Microsoft’s grip on UK schools.
education.guardian.co.uk
Mission accomplished: Langan in Iraq
The journalist Sean Langan spent the months from November 2003 to February 2004 in Iraq filming a documentary to be broadcast on BBC television. In this interview he talks about the making of the programme.
www.bbc.co.uk
Who cares about the truth?
“Caring about truth means that you have to be open to the possibility that your own beliefs are mistaken. It is a consequence of the very idea of objective truth.” An article by Michael Lynch.
www.chronicle.com
Linux Inc
“Little understood by the outside world, the community of Linux programmers has evolved in recent years into something much more mature, organized, and efficient. Put bluntly, Linux has turned pro.” Steve Hamm takes you on a tour of what has become the Linux phenomenon.
www.businessweek.com
Echelon spy network revealed
“It sounds like science fiction, but it’s true.” Andrew Bomford first published this article in November 1999. Will matters have improved since then?
news.bbc.co.uk
Forscher Warnt vor Googlesierung der Ausbildung
In German
Academics warn of an increasing divide between those able to pay for online educational content and those who are not.
www.heise.de
What makes Firefox 1.0 so compelling
“Score one for Open Source, because Firefox is a triumph of the alternative development model and a truly a great Web browser.” Scot Finnie says goodbye to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
www.informationweek.com