Links

The Value of Privacy

Great post by Bruce Schneier from May 2006. I found a few highlights in my Instapaper account. Here’s one:

For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that — either now or in the uncertain future — patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable.

 

Round Health – Medicine reminders and tracking

I’ve been using the free Round Health app for awhile. It’s useful for prescriptions, supplements, or medicine that’s taken as needed (like Ibuprofen, cold, or flu medicine). I don’t need a dedicated pill container, and appreciate the refill reminder.

Anti-Jet Lag Calculator

On the day of your flight, you fast for 12-16 hours before breakfast time in your destination. […] Stick to the plan, avoid snacks (no more than a tiny handful of nuts, if you must), and you’ll be golden.

I found this while going through notes with the blog tag in Simplenote. Interesting concept. Maybe I’ll try it for my next team meetup.

Source: Take Control of Your Body’s Clock With the Anti-Jet Lag Calculator

Transparency Report Update and a Closer Look at Turkey

I’m really proud of my team and legal colleagues for all the work that resulted with the latest transparency report at Automattic. Between 2014 and 2015, Turkey had an increase of 2725% in takedown demands!

Our latest transparency report is hot off the press, complete with data and details about the intellectual property infringement notices, government takedown demands, and government requests for information we received between July 1 and December 31, 2015.

[…] Turkey came out of the woodwork for the first time with 4 demands in 2014, jumping up dramatically with 113 in 2015.

 

Why We Encrypt

Great post from Bruce Schneier from June 2015:

Encryption should be enabled for everything by default, not a feature you turn on only if you’re doing something you consider worth protecting.

This is important. If we only use encryption when we’re working with important data, then encryption signals that data’s importance. If only dissidents use encryption in a country, that country’s authorities have an easy way of identifying them. But if everyone uses it all of the time, encryption ceases to be a signal. No one can distinguish simple chatting from deeply private conversation. The government can’t tell the dissidents from the rest of the population. Every time you use encryption, you’re protecting someone who needs to use it to stay alive.

Private/group messaging and calling with iOS or Android? Signal is fantastic. For email, James Huff uses ProtonMail.

Bookcision

Rad browser bookmarklet by Norbauer Applications:

When highlights are created on any Kindle device, they are synced up to Amazon’s cloud. These are then visible at kindle.amazon.com, but there is no reason to believe that Amazon will continue to provide this service forever, and our ability to work with text in that hosted browser-based environment is limited.

We wanted a way cleanly to download our highlights onto our local computers, so we created a bookmarklet that permits one to excise highlights from the book’s kindle.amazon.com page.

(Hat tip: Jeremey DuVall.)

Noizio

Noizio is a slick, flexible, and free(!) app that plays ambient sounds. I just installed it on my Mac and iPhone to use when listening to music isn’t proper for the task at hand.1

The current version offers fifteen ambient sounds. I dig the simplicity and ability to mix the various sounds at different volumes. Saving different “Mixtures” will be fun to try.

If you’re a fan of Coffitivity, Noizio is worth checking out. 🙂

Just turn on the sound and allow yourself to become engulfed in the tranquil sounds of nature. Whether you wish to feel as if you’re sitting near a fireplace under a cozy blanket, or that you’re meditating on a desolate sea shore as gusts of wind ruffle your hair, Noizio will be there to set the mood. With this ambient sound equalizer, not only will you be able to relax, but you will also increase your productivity, as you’re trying to concentrate on your work!

  1.  Playing in the background while I write this post: Campfire, Winter Wind, and Deep Space. ↩

Start with Heart

Take a deep breath. Imagine how you want things to unfold in the best version of the future. Or ask the other person what outcome they’d like to see.

It’s not about being right.

It’s about making the right things happen.

Fantastic post by Julie Zhuo reminding us to foster alignment towards a positive conclusion.

Focus your energy into that correct outcome, even if it means pointing them elsewhere.

Full post: The First Step in Hard Conversations — The Year of the Looking Glass