Bruce Schneier – Adapted from Data and Goliath by
Bruce Schneier, published by Norton Book – Last
year, when my refrigerator broke, the repair man replaced the computer that
controls it. I realised that I had been thinking about the refrigerator
backwards: it’s not a refrigerator with a computer, it’s a computer that keeps
food cold. Just like that, everything is turning into a computer. Your phone is
a computer that makes calls. Your car is a computer with wheels and an engine.
Your oven is a computer that cooks lasagne. Your camera is a computer that takes pictures. Even our pets and livestock are now regularly chipped; my cat could be considered a computer that sleeps in the sun all day…Right now, choosing among providers is not a choice between surveillance or no surveillance, but only a choice of which feudal lords get to spy on you. This won’t change until we have laws to protect both us and our data from these sorts of relationships. Data is power and those that have our data have power over us. It’s time for government to step in and balance things out.”
Your oven is a computer that cooks lasagne. Your camera is a computer that takes pictures. Even our pets and livestock are now regularly chipped; my cat could be considered a computer that sleeps in the sun all day…Right now, choosing among providers is not a choice between surveillance or no surveillance, but only a choice of which feudal lords get to spy on you. This won’t change until we have laws to protect both us and our data from these sorts of relationships. Data is power and those that have our data have power over us. It’s time for government to step in and balance things out.”
New York Times Sunday Review Essay: What’s the Point of a Professor?, by Mark Bauerlein(Emory, Department of English):
In the coming weeks, two million Americans will earn a bachelor’s degree and either join the work force or head to graduate school. They will be joyous that day, and they will remember fondly the schools they attended. But as this unique chapter of life closes and they reflect on campus events, one primary part of higher education will fall low on the ladder of meaningful contacts: the professors. ...
Pete Johnson (Lawyer, Southern California), Wolves of the Revenue:
When lawyer Pete Johnson's clients experienced harassment by the IRS, his response was unique: To pursue taxpayer vengeance in fiction.
Johnson's new novel, Wolves of the Revenue, is a riveting thriller that confronts the IRS about taxpayer abuse.
"In my experience the IRS fails to atone, or even officially apologize, for its wrongs when in error," Johnson said. "Unlike with the CIA and FBI, the Service is rarely a focal point in fiction."
"Wolves of the Revenue" relates the story of a taxpayer coping with two IRS agents' harassing audits, assessments and seizures.
To absolve himself and experience the satisfaction of vindication, this leads the protagonist down a path where betrayal, forbidden love and revenge awaits him.