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Online Security Post-Stratfor

January 9, 2012

Elementary precautions: Kandahar Air Field, August, 2011

Say what you will about Stratfor's lax security and the hackers who exploited it, but events of the past fortnight have certainly focused my mind somewhat on the security - or otherwise - of my online information. ... more »

posted: 09/01/2012 | comments »

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Some Thoughts on the Stratfor Hack

January 8, 2012

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, October 4, 2011 (for incongruous photo policy explanation, see here, note 3)

It's two weeks since hackers aligned with Anonymous and Antisec announced that they'd got inside the computers of the Texas company Stratfor, and published details of more than 800,000 of the firm's past and present clients. I'd be interested in this story anyway, but as one of those whose data were made public, I've been paying quite a bit of attention. And even as the details pile up and more folks weigh in with their thoughts, I'm far from convinced we're even close to understanding what's gone on here, or why.... more »

posted: 08/01/2012 | comments »

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Going Out, Because Staying In Is the New Awful

January 7, 2012

Somewhere in the desert near Rosamond, California; October 2011

One of simultaneously the best and the worst things about life as a self-employed freelance journalist is that you spend a lot of time at home. This is obviously great in terms of the time you don't waste commuting, the money you don't spend on workplace cafeteria lunches, and excellent news for any pets you may have, who know they can count on a free and easy food resupply mechanism throughout the working week. However, in January - with the tax bill imminent, client payments often delayed because accounts department staff haven't been at work for the thick end of a fortnight, and coffers low after the expenses of Christmas - you tend to spend just about all your time at home, evenings as well as daytime. As a result, I tend to get to see more TV in January than at other times of the year, and this isn't always to be advised. ... more »

posted: 07/01/2012 | comments »

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Taking Ineptitude to Olympian Heights

January 6, 2012

Statue on the Hoover Dam, Nevada, October 2, 2011

I don't pay much attention to the Olympics - not particularly bothered one way or another, really - but the games' imminence is an unavoidable story wherever you live in the UK, all the more so the closer you are to London. Even though I have no interest in attending, I still feel for the folks who do want to go, and whose efforts to spend their money on a once-in-a-lifetime sporting event seem to have been stymied not by the IOC, the London organising committee, or even London Regional Transport, but by Ticketmaster. ... more »

posted: 06/01/2012 | comments »

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Big Rog, Rhyming Douglas and Dependable Peter Parker

January 5, 2012

The largest slice of cake I've ever seen; Claimjumpers, Palmdale, California, October 8 2011 (Note on why image bears no relation to text HERE, note 3)

On a day otherwise notable chiefly for a trip to the dentist and relief at the fact that the fence panel that blew down in the garden was a) one of the ones that technically belongs to nextdoor and b) fell onto their side not ours, and after Newcastle's terrific performance last night, I was always going to be in the right mood for this.... more »

posted: 05/01/2012 | comments »

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One Final Look Back

January 4, 2012

An Airbus A330 being prepared for conversion into a new Voyager tanker for the Royal Air Force, in Cobham's hangar near Bournemouth: September 2, 2011

So after the last two days' posts looking backwards, it's high time I turned my attentions in the opposite direction. But I like the measurable, quantifiable concept, and may well stick with it as the year progresses. With that in mind, then:... more »

posted: 04/01/2012 | comments »