Last week Facebook was fined for poor privacy practices by the Federal Trade Commission. Probably around $5 billion — A chunk of change to be sure. But when your net profit is $7 billion a quarter, the fine seems kinda skimpy. Put Another Zero on Facebook’s Fine. Then We Can Talk. By Kara Swisher for… [Read more]
Opinion
The Web at 30
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the world wide web in 1989, has some regrets. He has seen his creation debased by everything from fake news to mass surveillance. Can it be fixed? He seems to think so. The world wide web turns 30. Where does it go from here? Opinion By Tim Berners-Lee… [Read more]
Weaponizing social media
Mark Zuckerberg once characterized Facebook as a “benign utility” that promoted human interaction, community, and connectivity. Still accurate? Not so much. As discussed by Kara Swisher of Recode in a recent article for the New York Times, Facebook could be losing the battle to control the behavior of its users. It’s a great read if… [Read more]
Who the hell is Ern Berck?
Ern Berck is the blacksmith at an anonymous town shown in the opening scenes of the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven. You never see him, he never speaks. But somehow you know he’s there — with fire and iron — making stuff. The movie The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American Western film directed by… [Read more]
272 words
Just an observation I read an article the other day that suggested that the best length for a blog post was 1,447 words. No more, no less. The author came to this conclusion by analyzing 11.8 million Google search engine result pages (SERPs). He went on to say that “this correlation could be due to… [Read more]
Inspiration is for wimps
It’s very trendy nowadays to peddle “inspirational” books and courses about “finding your passion.” And I suppose there’s a certain hopeful charm to the notion that one day your true calling will reveal itself in a single shining moment. I guess it happens to some people, but not many. And certainly not to me. Man,… [Read more]
Learning how to learn
Regarding your academic progress … After my first quarter at the University of California, I was put on “academic probation.” Technically, that meant I had a grade point average of less than 2.0 (less than a “C”). Non-technically it kinda sucked. Nobody likes to be labeled “less than average.” For all practical purposes though, it… [Read more]
