David Kahn
February 3 2024David Kahn has died. His groundbreaking book, The Codebreakers was the first serious book I read about codebreaking, and one of the primary reasons I entered this field. He...
Read moreA Self-Enforcing Protocol to Solve Gerrymandering
February 2 2024In 2009, I wrote:
There are several ways two people can divide a piece of cake in half. One way is to find someone impartial to do it for...
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Facebook’s Extensive Surveillance Network
February 1 2024Consumer Reports is reporting that Facebook has built a massive surveillance network:
Using a panel of 709 volunteers who shared archives of their Facebook data, Consumer Reports found that...
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CFPB’s Proposed Data Rules
January 31 2024In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a set of rules that if implemented would transform how financial institutions handle personal data about their customers. The...
Read moreNew Images of Colossus Released
January 31 2024GCHQ has released new images of the WWII Colossus code-breaking computer, celebrating the machine’s eightieth anniversary (birthday?). News article.
Read moreNSA Buying Bulk Surveillance Data on Americans without a Warrant
January 30 2024It finally admitted to buying bulk data on Americans from data brokers, in response to a query by Senator Weyden. This is almost certainly illegal, although the NSA maintains that...
Read moreMicrosoft Executives Hacked
January 29 2024Microsoft is reporting that a Russian intelligence agency—the same one responsible for SolarWinds—accessed the email system of the company’s executives.
Beginning in late November 2023, the threat actor used...
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Amazing footage of a black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx) carrying thousands of eggs. They tend to hang out about 6,200 feet below sea level. As usual, you can also use this...
Read moreChatbots and Human Conversation
January 26 2024For most of history, communicating with a computer has not been like communicating with a person. In their earliest years, computers required carefully constructed instructions, delivered through punch cards;...
Read moreQuantum Computing Skeptics
January 25 2024Interesting article. I am also skeptical that we are going to see useful quantum computers anytime soon. Since at least 2019, I have been saying that this is hard....
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