In an effort to avoid demise, RIM is now complying with the Indian government’s spying demands with added vigor. While it previously argued that its Blackberry services were not designed to permit even lawful interception, they have now proven that this is not the case, and that the implementation is simple. On top of this, RIM has built interception facilities while denying their existence for over a year. The takeaway here is that even Blackberry Enterprise Server is not secure, never was, and both businesses and end users alike should be aware that their devices are now compromised, that RIM is not honest with anyone about its network security, and has intentionally compromised it in a desperate bid to remain profitable.

Microsoft is making the same old mistake. A competing product with proprietary features that will work for some people, but not everyone - the philosophy here will be to make Outlook.com your go-to place for communication. Will you be able to video chat with a GMail user? No. Why? Because it’s technically impossible? No, because some guy in a suit decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. Will you be able to export your mail to a local disk?

Quick note to those experiencing gadget lust after Apple WWDC and Google I/O: In the UNIX world, root is the most common term for the user in total control of a system. Root is the owner of /, the root of the filesystem, the namespace within which UNIX operates. Apple’s and Google’s devices are based on this 40+ year tradition. Only you don’t have root on the device you’re eagerly investing hundreds of dollars in.

Digital technology is reinventing our whole world, in service of you and me. It’s free enterprise on steroids. It’s bypassing the gatekeepers and empowering each of us to invent our own civilization for ourselves, according to our own specifications. This quote alone inspires me - that’s how I feel about computers and their limitless capabilities, and why I’m so concerned with devices like iPad and Microsoft Surface, which are designed from the ground up to protect obsolete business models at the expense of an owner’s right to use his computer as fully as he has the skill to.

The new “Retina MacBook Pro” is an attractive machine, but it does come with a big caveat. A lot of users wisely order the base configuration of a notebook from the manufacturer, and subsequently upgrade its memory and storage capacity using aftermarket parts. This is done to avoid the massive price markup the OEM places on such parts (specifically, RAM and HDD/SSD storage in this case). Before buying a Retina MacBook Pro, take note of the following - it’s an appliance, through and through.

While we’re basking in the afterglow of Apple’s WWDC keynote and their demonstration of truly transcendent integration between its devices via its various cloud services, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on why the cloud is a bad idea. From the article: I can’t speak to the merits of the lawsuit; the court will decide that. The issue of whether or not Apple should have pulled Speak for Yourself from the App Store before the case was decided is trickier.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the contract with American Mug and Stein is only the beginning. “There are hundreds of East Liverpools around the country today,” he says. “These towns have been left for dead. And even though it’s more expensive to manufacture this mug in the U.S. than it would be in China or Korea or Mexico, this is what we need to do.” A-fucking-men. Read more: http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154793475/starbucks-order-gives-ohio-mug-maker-a-jolt?device=iphone

If the computer were to end up and remain in the hands of a small elite, e.g. of a dictator, [the computer’s] power will make the common man powerless and utterly submissive. And this tyranny will be introduced under the guise of the advancement of human well-being. – Prof. Dr. ir. H. van Riesen, 1956

Red Hat yesterday defended its decision to collaborate with Microsoft in forcing Linux users to pay a $99 fee to install custom kernels as the “best thing for its users”. In truth this is a delusional position to take - the best thing for users is to pressure the software/hardware industry to avoid obvious situations where customers will become victims of vendor lock-in and inability to make full use of the devices in which they invest a non-trivial amount of money.

It’s tempting to say that Caesar could only have won if he had argued like Cato. It’s certain, though, that Cato’s words became the prototypical case for security opposed to liberty. What Caesar missed, and what Cato grasped, was just how central emotional appeals and logical non sequiturs are to security politics: national security as culture war. Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jimmy-soni/national-security-culture-war_b_1553200.html