Author Archives: Robert Basil

What could go wrong?

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Robert Basil

No Contest friend Chester Wisniewski provides the clearest précis I’ve read regarding the extravagant promises made on behalf of “decentralized blockchains,” in The Gospel of Crypto: A Solution in Search of a Problem. It’s concise, illuminating, and persuasive.

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Prime Yourself

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Robert Basil

There needs to be two of you: you and “you prime.” The latter is an heuristic entity brought into being by you for the purpose of protecting and orienting you. Your “you prime” makes the hard decisions – saying no to … Continue reading →

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Twitter

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Robert Basil

I’m keeping in abeyance any decision I might make on maintaining my presence on Twitter. I’ve been tweeting away since 2008, though I have never been especially prolific. (That said, this platform completely redefined “prolific”!) The place had a few … Continue reading →

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Better

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Robert Basil

When I finally consented, two decades ago, to using the necessary phrase “passive aggressive,” I felt awful, and beaten, like I had fallen off the wagon. But I am clean again! A dear friend employed the phrase defensive envenomater this … Continue reading →

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It’s actually easy

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Robert Basil

… not to do this.

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Not included.

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Robert Basil

Sometimes you have to read a story two or three times to make sure you’re reading it right. As in: A PhD candidate is hoping the University of Alberta changes its practice on publishing theses after hers was rejected for spelling her [Urdu] … Continue reading →

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Information warfare

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Robert Basil

Chester Wisniewski, longtime friend of this blog and principal research scientist at Sophos, has been studying Russian cyber aggression for a very long time. In a new piece he describes the kind of threats we can expect from Russia as … Continue reading →

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The other Spotify scandal

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Robert Basil

Esteemed recording engineer Steve Albini explains in a recent twitter thread that there’s “an important thread of continuity over time about the exploitation of bands by record labels that deserves a closer look, re the current Spotify debate.” It is … Continue reading →

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It’s wild out there.

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Robert Basil

The 2022 Social Media Map from Overdrive is here – this is a happy day! – and it includes live links to 675 sites, apps, and tools, broken down into 25 categories.  Click on the image above to download the … Continue reading →

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Alas

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Robert Basil

“Critical thinking isn’t contagious.”

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