A growing awareness of risks to privacy and the generally miserable state of computer security is changing how people use the internet. A recent study found that people in seemingly free western countries feel uncomfortable searching for politically sensitive topics online. A lot of common privacy advice is dangerously misleading; overestimating the level of security provided by a technology can lead people to use it in ways they later regret. Many celebrities recently discovered that they were storing photos worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using security that was penetrated for far less. [Read more…]
The Rising Cost of Apple Products
Apple continues to introduce cheaper price points into their product lineup. These cheaper options actually serve to increase the total cost of owning an Apple product. Most consumers won’t see it that way, but it will be obvious to firms that analyze the total cost of their technology investments (which also serves to create additional market segmentation). [Read more…]
Frequently Free Financing for Founders: Technical Debt
Startups play by a different set of rules than established and profitable firms; understand those differences and take full advantage of them. [Read more…]
Google Apps Security Vulnerability Puts Organizations’ Data at Risk
Building secure software requires careful design; building a secure software system requires consideration not just of technical details, but also how users will interact with the software. A secure design is the result not just of technical and algorithm choices, but also user experience/interface decisions. Any system is only as strong as its weakest link, and your user forms a part of the system you’ve built (that’s why those stick people keep making an appearance in design documents). [Read more…]