Category Archives: Computers

Rounding numbers in Python 2 and Python 3

Posted on 2019-01-02 by Mark Doliner

There are two changes to rounding between Python 2 and Python 3 that programmers should watch out for when migrating. I realize that Python 3 has been out for ten years, but I also know there are still people using … Continue reading →

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On the Shadow Brokers NSA leaks

Posted on 2017-11-14 by Mark Doliner

The leaks published by The Shadow Brokers (Wikipedia, New York Times) are the perfect example of why we should minimize the sensitive information kept by the government. I posted about this in the context of encryption backdoors two years ago. … Continue reading →

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Technology news briefs

Posted on 2017-04-10 by Mark Doliner

There were three events last week that I thought didn’t get enough news coverage: 1. Good news: Proposed restrictions on warrantless electronic device border searches Bills were proposed in the Senate and House to require a probable cause warrant before … Continue reading →

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Safari invalid certificate handling sucks

Posted on 2016-08-07 by Mark Doliner

Update 2017-11-03: Some of these issues have been improved on macOS Safari (I didn’t check iOS). Original post follows. Last week I filed three bugs with Apple regarding how Safari handles invalid certificates. Bug #1 (Mac OS and iOS): It’s … Continue reading →

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Dear Government: Please Don’t Muck With Encryption

Posted on 2015-12-09 by Mark Doliner

I was prompted to write this after hearing that the Obama Administration is meeting with the creators of a petition for strong encryption (edit: you can now read the EFF’s thoughts). Over the past year officials of various governments have … Continue reading →

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Net Neutrality, Netflix, and Comcast

Posted on 2014-05-07 by Mark Doliner

Net neutrality is weird and complex. It’s been in the news increasingly more over the past few years. Let’s look at an example. Netflix recently started paying Comcast (info, more info) so that Comcast would provide customers with a better … Continue reading →

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Should the NSA be allowed to scan our personal email?

Posted on 2013-08-17 by Mark Doliner

It seems pretty likely that the NSA is operating a large-scale system called XKeyscore that captures and scans private Internet communications like email. Yesterday I talked about the constitutionality of such a system. Regardless of whether the NSA is allowed … Continue reading →

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Violating the Fourth Amendment

Posted on 2013-08-16 by Mark Doliner

I recently tweeted: “Hey why do @NSACareers and @BarackObama seem to think it’s ok to break the law and access my communications? I find that strange.” That’s a bold assertion, so I’m obliged to explain myself. The Fourth Amendment to … Continue reading →

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