In a speech six years ago, then-CIA Deputy Director Donald Kerr delivered the unwelcome verdict: Privacy is not a realistic expectation much of the time on the Web. Our world is increasingly self-regulated by this fact. Recognizing as much is the beginning of wisdom.

Without naming any particular sources, both The Telegraph and The Independent say the government is worried about espionage by China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan in particular, claiming that those countries now have the ability to turn on a smartphone or tablet’s microphone even when the device is off. That’s something the FBI can also allegedly do.

Those who have suffered discrimination have paid the greatest price for this lack of legal protection. But ultimately we all pay a price. If our coworkers cannot be themselves in the workplace, they certainly cannot be their best selves. When that happens, we undermine people’s potential and deny ourselves and our society the full benefits of those individuals’ talents.

Technology and the rise of social media has changed, perhaps restored, the accountability of politicians to their electorate, rather than to their party, Douglas Carswell, British parliamentarian told the audience at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Cafe event Thursday.

For more than seven years isoHunt and the MPAA have been battling it out in court but today the case appears to have come to an end, at least for now. Both parties have submitted a request to conclude the case and isoHunt founder Gary Fung has agreed to pay a $110 million settlement and shut down the site.

This proposal extends HTMLMediaElement providing APIs to control playback of protected content.

Dans le New Yorker, la psychologue Maria Konnikova (@mkonnikova), l’auteure du bestseller Mastermind, comment penser comme Sherlock Holmes ? revient sur plusieurs études de confrères sur les usages de Facebook, montrant des résultats contradictoires. Certaines montrent que Facebook rendrait ses utilisateurs tristes, comme c’est le cas de celle dirigée par Ethan Kross, directeur du laboratoire sur l’émotion et l’auto-contrôle de l’université du Michigan (et qui rappelle les résultats de Robert Kraut (Wikipédia), qui, en 1998, avait montré que plus les gens utilisaient l’internet, plus ils se sentaient seuls et déprimés), et d’autres prouvent exactement le contraire.

Algorithms, simple functions that hover between mathematical problems and computer programs, are everywhere. Whether dealing with lost packets when using Wi-Fi, or getting your credit-card details securely to an online store, most consumer technology couldn’t work without some ingenious solutions to common problems. And when Google decides to change its search algorithm – as it did with Hummingbird last week, it can make or break whole companies. Here are just five which you couldn’t live without.

Regardez ce qui s’est passé en 2008 : l’Etat américain n’a pas hésité à intervenir pour sauver l’assureur AIG en renflouant ses pertes, sans poser aucune condition. Pourquoi ne fait-on pas la même chose avec les Etats européens en difficulté ? Parce qu’ils sont considérés comme les mauvais élèves de la zone euro. Dans ce cas, la morale entre en ligne de compte alors qu’elle n’a que peu joué, finalement, dans le sauvetage des établissements financiers.