Teh Interwebz

299 posts

A View of the NSA’s Online Monitoring from an Information Security Professional

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Since the NSA’s extensive domestic and international monitoring was revealed by Edward Snowden via The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald in June 2013, much ink (or many pixels, as the case may be) has been spilled discussing whether or not the NSA has gone too far, whether the programs are unconstitutional, and a variety of other issues.

One view that I have not yet seen is that of someone on the front lines of information security, who deals with many of the threats that the NSA has been monitoring on a fairly regular basis.

Someone like me. Continue reading →

US Median Home Value Map Mashup

for_saleHousing bubble alert. With interest rates low and a lot of demand now is a great time to be a seller. The nice people over at Realtor.org have layered their market data that used to only come in Excel format onto Google Maps for a nice mashup, as the internet kids like to call it.

The data below gives you a quick view to the median price of a single family detached home in different metropolitan statistical areas. Did you catch all those loaded words there? Let’s break it down.

Just remember, buy low – sell high. Continue reading →

Open Caption: Simon Cowell Is a Doggy Daddy

SimonDogsSmallSometimes an image just needs the right words to go with it. Simon Cowell has provided just that image.

Yesterday Mr. Cowell decided that an incoming human baby just wasn’t enough excitement in his life and he decided to get two puppies to fill out his instant family.

He’s gone from globe trotting playboy to stay at home dad almost overnight. The only thing left for him to do is get a minivan.

Go forth and caption. Or, if you’d rather suggest names for his pups that would work too.
Continue reading →

US Supreme Court Reasoning Slipping Away

scThe internets, how do they work?

The already ridiculously old and technologically impaired Supreme Court of the United States of America has come down with a bad case of link rot. The NY Times brings us news of a new study by the Harvard Law School that finds almost half of all hyperlinks referenced in Supreme Court decisions are now defunct. Now what the hell does that actually mean? Continue reading →

Jean-Claude Van Damme’s New Commercial Will Haunt Your Dreams

It’s not every day you come across someone watching you sensuously, crazily, bongo-ily with the professional soul searing stare only a Belgian hanging from the ceiling can produce. That is unless you’ve unearthed Jean-Claude Van Damme from a yoga den full of random sports-splits, and questionably fashionable acid-wash WrestleMania pants and thrown into a 2013 commercial complete with a fire flute, because naturally. But, well, that’s what we’ve got here. Continue reading →

5 Crazy Items You Can Buy on Wanelo

I personally dislike shopping for routine things I need. Whenever payday rolls around I think “Sure, I should probably get my oil changed and restock my Swiffer supply, but I really love this constellation globe and those strappy green wedges would look great with some Moroccan pink nail polish. I need them!” I’m usually able to reign it in and take care of the things I need first, but if I were to let my id run wild and shop free of inhibition I couldn’t think of a better place to browse than the online shopping search engine Wanelo. Check out just a sample of what’s in store to blow your money on: Continue reading →