Gongol.com Archives: February 2016
February 13, 2016
Should the government have special privileges to break encryption?
The "pro" argument would say that the risks of terrorist attack are so great that the government needs to have backdoor tools to get in. But the "con" argument would remind us that it's never wise to demand powers when you're in control of government that you wouldn't want your opponents to have when you're out. And the power to have special access to break encryption is a very, very significant one. It's also worth noting that putting back-door access into legitimate software will do nothing to control access to illegitimate software. Bad guys can write code, too.
Sen. Bernie Sanders promised jobs for young people, but how?
He recognizes the hazard correctly: There's very little that's more dangerous or destabilizing than lots of young people (particularly males) with nothing productive to do. But as with so many of his socialist schemes, Sanders only makes vague promises that he'll offer some kind of benefit without ever explaining how. And that's a critical flaw, because the default mode of socialism is actually to put people out of work. As a general rule of thumb, the more government regulates and seeks to manage employment, the harder it becomes to both hire and fire -- which makes it much harder for young, low-skill workers to enter the labor force. The burden is on Sanders to explain how he's going to do what he promises, and how his plan would escape the built-in anti-employment traps of socialism.
Congress sends ban on taxing Internet access to the President
It's not a ban on putting sales taxes on things purchased on the Internet, just a ban on taxing the Internet access itself
France challenges Facebook's data-collection practices
If you don't know the terms and other policies that apply to Facebook use, then you should click no further on it until you educate yourself
"There just aren't enough people who are prepared to pay for printed news"
The editor of the UK's "The Independent" writes an editorial basically saying "We had to kill it [the print edition] in order to save it [the institution]".
Show notes - WHO Radio Wise Guys - February 13, 2016
Trends, tips, and technology on WHO Radio, including a live stream at 1:00 pm Central
