My Car Is Too Dumb to Get Hacked
The Jeep hacking story and Chrysler's 1.4 million vehicle recall have me feeling smug about my dumb old Civic, plus a tangent on whether I'll upgrade to Windows 10 the second it drops tomorrow.
Nice Quarter, Apple. So Where Are the Watch Numbers?
Apple posted a record quarter Tuesday and the stock still dropped, but the number I actually wanted, how many Watches they sold, never showed up on the call.
Why I'm Never Buying a Car With a Cell Modem in It
The Wired story about two researchers remotely killing a Jeep's transmission on the highway has me thinking about why I still drive a car with a tape deck.
Getting Ready for the Windows 10 Upgrade (Before That Tray Icon Wins)
Windows 10 ships in eight days. Heres what Im actually doing to get my machines ready before I let that little tray icon anywhere near them.
Prime Day Was Mostly Junk (I Still Bought Batteries)
Amazon's first-ever Prime Day happened last Wednesday, and most of what I saw people buying (myself included) was junk nobody actually wanted.
Prime Day Got Me a Garden Hose Countdown and Nothing Else
Amazon's first Prime Day mostly meant garden hoses and battery packs, but the Pluto flyby pictures more than made up for it.
Firefox Just Blocked Flash and I'm Not Even a Little Sad
Firefox started blocking Flash by default this week after the Hacking Team breach exposed multiple working zero-day exploits, and honestly, it's about time.
Reddit Got Its Founder Back. That Doesn't Fix What's Actually Wrong.
Ellen Pao stepped down as Reddit CEO last Friday and Steve Huffman is back, but the mod-tools problem that actually caused the blowup isn't going anywhere.
Setting an Alarm for a Dwarf Planet
New Horizons flies by Pluto tomorrow morning and then goes radio silent for the encounter itself. Some rambling about waiting nine years for one close pass.
The Day Three Unrelated Things Broke At Once
Three unrelated computer glitches took down the NYSE, United Airlines, and the WSJ website on the same Wednesday, and half of Twitter was instantly convinced it was a coordinated hack.
Reddit Finally Admits What Everyone Already Knew
Ellen Pao is out as Reddit's CEO and a co-founder is stepping back in. A few thoughts on the mod blackout, the pile-on, and why the "founders return" narrative doesn't sit right.
Ten Minutes to Stop Flash From Running Itself
The Hacking Team breach dumped fresh Flash zero-days on the internet this week. Here's how to switch Chrome, Firefox, and Safari to click-to-play in about ten minutes.