Gongol.com Archives: January 2016

Brian Gongol


January 2, 2016

News Refugees are real people

They are people just like any of us. Just people. Anyone who would diminish their humanity to score cheap political points ought to be ashamed.

Computers and the Internet West Liberty and West Branch (Iowa) get gigabit broadband

Launched by the local independent ISP on Christmas Day to a pair of communities with a total of about 6000 people

Computers and the Internet Iowa City claims one of nation's top rates of broadband adoption

Computers and the Internet Microsoft says it will advise users it thinks are being hacked by governments

Reuters may have triggered the announcement by pursuing a story that suggested that the Chinese government had intercepted the data of some users, though Microsoft says it doesn't have firm evidence that it was, in fact, a Chinese government incident. But they do say that "We will now notify you if we believe your account has been targeted or compromised by an individual or group working on behalf of a nation state." Here's an interesting corollary question: What about groups like ISIS/ISIL/QSIL/Daesh, that have many of the trappings of nation-statehood but no formal recognition? As always, the use of strong passwords and two-factor authentication is recommended practice for anyone.

Computers and the Internet A fair and mostly positive appraisal of Microsoft in 2015

Health A possible substitute for knee replacement

Ohio State University is testing a "meniscal implant" that could offer a substitute for knee surgery in patients who have damaged the meniscus of the knee

Iowa Black Velvet is the most popular liquor in Iowa

It certainly has its adherents among seniors

Computers and the Internet Why Facebook accidentally showed "46 years of friendship"

The bug definitely caused its share of confusion going into the end of 2015. It was probably due to a Unix date calculation bug.

Computers and the Internet A reminder: What you share with Facebook, you share with all its advertisers and "partners"

And what a lot of people share with Facebook is...a whole lot.

Computers and the Internet Why it's called "human intelligence"

Twitter shut down an account belonging to the wrong person -- thinking it was a terrorist they were blocking, they actually shut down a reform activist. And it's probably because someone just didn't read the names correctly.

Broadcasting Show notes - WHO Radio Wise Guys - January 2, 2016


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